A smooth operator in Chicago in America, Jon Spiro has a shady career and alleged mob connections. His communication company, Fission Chips, would have the highest stock if it wasn't for the Phonetix Phone Company. He owns the Spiro Needle. He has links with the Antonelli mafia family and often hires them for jobs. It is rumored that they were partly to thank for his success in the phone business. He is the main antagonist in The Eternity Code.
Appearances in Book
In the third book, Artemis Fowl II invites Spiro to a business meeting, where Jon steals the C Cube, has Butler shot by his bodyguard, Arno Blunt, and commands Blunt to kill Artemis as well. Butler takes Artemis's shot. Butler dies but Artemis couldn't let him go. He used cryogenics on his faithful bodyguard before he is healed by Holly. She, Artemis, Mulch Diggums, and Juliet Butler go to Chicago to get the C Cube back, but Butler is left behind to recover from his magical surgery. Spiro continuously gloats in Artemis's face, but Artemis (with Foaly's illegal help) get him to raid Fission Chips' rival Phonetix. Spiro is eventually arrested by the Chicago SWAT team and the C Cube is recovered.
Physical Appearance
It is said that Spiro wears enough gold on his wrists and fingers to "gold leaf the Taj Mahal". He is small, barely taller than Artemis himself, tanned and is as "thin as a javelin". Artemis compares his eyes to a rat's: small, dark, beady, and always moving. He apparently has "gut problems", and has to take several types of vitamin supplements a day to replace food.
Accomplices
Jon Spiro has his major bodyguard, Arno Blunt, who travels with him in all of his business ventures. At Spiro Industries, his two major guards are Pex and Chips, compared to shaved gorillas and rottweilers that could balance on two legs. Pex and Chips are described as "the ones who break things and ask questions later".
Spiro has also several employers at his disposal. Dr. Pearson was the head of the technical staff and the one who tried to break the eternity code on the C Cube.
End of Appearances
Artemis Fowl II tricks Spiro into breaking into Phonetix, where he and Foaly made it so they were caught. Holly Short then rescues Artemis, and a Chicago SWAT Team apprehend Blunt, Pex, Chips, and Spiro. Jon Spiro is currently serving time in prison. After that Artemis, Butler, and Juliet Butler are mind-wiped by Foaly.
Quotes
"I don't understand. This is years, no decades ahead of anything we have now. You're nothing but a thirteen-year-old kid. How did you do it?" -Jon Spiro, commenting on Artemis' C Cube
"Five-hundred-bit encryption. Best in its class. You're not getting into Fission 400 without a code." -Jon Spiro
"Listen kid. I like you. In a couple of years, you could have been just like me. But did you ever put a gun to somebody's head and pulled the trigger? No? I didn't think so. Sometimes thats all it takes. Guts. And you don't have them." -Jon Spiro, talking to Artemis in the seafood restaurant.
"I'm going now. Before that satellite beam shows up, and those other ones. The LEP, I've never heard of that particular agency. But as soon as I get this gizmo working, they're going to wish they'd never heard of me. It's been fun doing business with you." -Jon Spiro, after taking the C Cube