William O. Perkins III is an American hedge fund manager, film producer, and poker player from Houston, Texas. Known as the "Natural Gas King" and "Cowboy of Wall Street," Perkins focuses on venture capital and energy markets. He founded Small Ventures USA, L.P in 1997 and later joined Centaurus Energy in 2002. He  has a 12 year history of energy derivatives trading, holding senior risk management and trading positions at AIG, El Paso Energy, and Statoil. Currently, he manages Houston-based energy hedge fund, Skylar Capital and serves as a Director of NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc. 

Perkins grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey and graduated as an Electrical and Electronics Engineer from the University of Iowa. After graduating, he worked under oil trader, John D. Arnold for several years before starting his own hedge fund. During his 12-year career, Perkins directed NorthernStar Natural Gas and was the CEO of Cutuco Energy Central America. Perkins actively traded the stock market turning a $1.25 million profit trading Goldman Sachs in September 2008. In 2009, Perkins became involved in film production, producing various films including After.Life (2009), Unthinkable (2010), and Cat Run (2011).