WebMD's Founder Goes Hollywood

Jeff Arnold's noncompete agreement with WebMD (HLTH ), the online medical-services giant he founded in 1998 and left in 2000, is over. "Been there, done that," Arnold says of his foray into health care, a field he once predicted would be revolutionized by the Internet boom.

His new goal: to be a big gun in media. Over the last two years, the 34-year-old Internet wunderkind's venture, Convex Group, has amassed a hodgepodge of assets. They include popular encyclopedia Web site HowStuffWorks.com and LidRock, a system that snaps a CD of a song or videogame on top of the plastic lid of a fountain-drink cup. On Oct. 18, Arnold completed his acquisition of Flexplay -- which creates DVDs that erase 48 hours after being taken out of the package. Arnold sees his ambitions as more in line with Sumner Redstone than Barry Diller, however.