David Koch co-owned Koch Industries with his brother Charles, ran for vice president as a Libertarian in 1980, and was the fourth-richest person in America in 2012.
Buck Duke licensed the first automated cigarette machine in 1885 and by 1890 consolidated his rivals into the American Tobacco Company, which controlled over 90 percent of the US cigarette market.
Thomas Edison registered 1,093 US patents, built Menlo Park, the first industrial research laboratory, and his Edison General Electric merged into General Electric.
Jack Welch ran GE from 1981 to 2001, growing its market value from $14 billion to $600 billion, though his financial-services strategy drew later scrutiny.
Charles Koch has led Koch Industries since 1967 and expanded it, with his late brother David, into the largest privately held company by revenue in the United States.
