Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN), based in Houston, Texas, United States, is a large owner and operator of power plants and a player in the natural gas liquids and coal business. The corporate headquarters are in Suite 5800 in the Wells Fargo Plaza at 1000 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston.

Once known as "The Natural Gas Clearinghouse," Dynegy adopted the "New Economy" branding in 1998, after which the company structured itself in a manner similar to Enron, launching several business ventures, including an online trading platform and broadband communications services, which could be misconstrued of those of its larger rival.

The company was dubbed the "king of coal" by the National Environmental Trust.

The Natural Gas Clearinghouse became better known by its later shortened name, NGC Corporation in the early 1990s, when it became a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. NGC was an integrated natural gas services company, paying a cash dividend to shareholders each year since 1994. By 1996, it had grown to US$550 million in assets, and carried US$525 million in long-term debt.

Carl Celian Icahn (born February 16, 1936) is an American business magnate.

Icahn was raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor, his mother was a schoolteacher. He was educated at Princeton University (A.B., philosophy, 1957) and New York University School of Medicine, but left without graduating.

Icahn began his career on Wall Street in 1961. In 1968, he formed Icahn & Co., a securities firm that focused on risk arbitrage and options trading. In 1978, he began taking control of positions in individual companies. He has taken substantial or controlling positions in various corporations including RJR Nabisco, TWA, Texaco, Phillips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, Uniroyal, Dan River, Marshall Field's, E-II (Culligan and Samsonite), American Can, USX, Marvel Comics, Revlon, Imclone, Federal-Mogul, Fairmont Hotels, Blockbuster, Kerr-McGee, Time Warner and Motorola.

Little is known about Carl Icahns' endeavors prior to the 1990s, yet still many have regarded him as a main player in the "junk bond," and "mortgage bond," industries which transformed corporate America and S & L's into a profitable enclave susceptible to investment bankers and corporate raiders.