American businessman Charles de Ganahl Koch, who is worth $1 billion, was born on November 1, 1935. On the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of June 2023, he was rated as the 20th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $62 billion. Since 1967, Koch has served as a co-owner, chairman, and CEO of Koch Industries, with his late brother David Koch serving as executive vice president. Each held 42% of the conglomerate, Charles and David. The brothers grew the company after acquiring it from their father, Fred C. Koch. According to Forbes, Koch Industries is the largest privately held firm in the US by revenue.
The Institute for Humane Studies, the Cato Institute, the Ayn Rand Institute, and the George Mason University's Mercatus Centre are just a few of the libertarian think tanks that Koch also backs. Additionally, he makes donations to the Republican Party, Republican candidates, libertarian organisations, and numerous cultural and philanthropic organisations. He helped create the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Koch has contributed significantly to think groups that push against environmental legislation, together with his brother. The Science of Success (2007), Market Based Management (2014), Good Profit (2015), and Believe in People (2020) are four books by Koch that outline his business philosophies.
Early Life & Education
Koch is one of the four sons of Clementine Mary (née Robinson) and Fred Chase Koch and was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas. Harry Koch, a Dutch immigrant who moved in West Texas and started the Quanah Tribune-Chief newspaper, was also a founding stockholder of the Quanah, Acme, and Pacific Railways. Koch is Koch's great-grandfather. William Ingraham Kip, an Episcopal bishop, and Elizabeth Clementine Stedman, a writer, were among his maternal great-great-grandparents.
In a February 2016 interview with Warren Cassell Jr., Koch said that despite coming from an affluent family, he did not lead a privileged life as a youngster. According to Koch, "My father wanted me to work as if I was the poorest person in the world." Koch received his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after visiting a number of private secondary schools. He belongs to the fraternity Beta Theta Pi. His academic accomplishments include a 1957 Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, a 1958 Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering, and a 1960 second Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. He was thinking about how to refine oil.
Koch began working at Arthur D. Little, Inc. right out of college.
Life & Career
He returned to Wichita in 1961 to work for his father's company, Rock Island Oil & Refining Company (now Koch Industries). He was named the company's president in 1967 when it was still a small oil company. He changed the company's name to Koch Industries that year to honour his father. Frederick and Bill Koch had inherited ownership in Koch Industries from their brother Charles. Following a legal and boardroom fight, Frederick and Bill's shares were purchased for $1.1 billion in June 1983, making Charles and his younger brother David the dominant proprietors of the business. Despite the agreement, the legal battles went on until May 2001, when Koch Industries reportedly reached a $25 million settlement, according to CBS News.
The income earned by Koch Industries in 2006 was $90 billion, an increase of 2000 times, or an annual compounded return of 18%. According to the Forbes 400 list, Koch's net worth as of 2014 was about $41.3 billion (compared to $36 billion in 2013). Koch often put in 12-hour workdays at the workplace (and then continued to work longer hours at home), worked weekends, and demanded that executives at Koch Industries work weekends. Since 1982, Koch has served as both a director of Koch Industries Inc. and INTRUST Financial Corp. He serves as director of the paper and pulp division of Georgia-Pacific LLC as well as the resin and fibre division of Invista. The Cato Institute, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Mercatus Centre at George Mason University, the Bill of Rights Institute, and the Market-Based Management Institute are just a few of the institutions Koch created or co-founded. The Mont Pelerin Society admits him as a member.