Charles Koch: Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries

Charles Koch: Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries

Business Owner · Industrial Conglomerates

Wichita

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.

About Charles Koch: Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries

Charles de Ganahl Koch (born November 1, 1935, in Wichita, Kansas) is an American businessman, engineer and philanthropist. As of May 2025 he was the 22nd richest man in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of US$71.4 billion. He has been co-owner, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries since 1967, while his late brother David Koch was executive vice president; each owned 42% of the conglomerate. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, and expanded it, and according to Forbes it is the largest privately held company by revenue in the United States. Koch was one of four sons of Clementine Mary Robinson and Fred Chase Koch. His grandfather, Harry Koch, was a Dutch immigrant who settled in West Texas, founded the Quanah Tribune-Chief newspaper and was a founding shareholder of the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway. In a 2016 interview Koch said that, despite growing up in a wealthy family, he did not live a privileged lifestyle as a child. He supports several libertarian think tanks, including the Institute for Humane Studies, the Cato Institute (which he co-founded), the Ayn Rand Institute and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and contributes to the Republican Party and to libertarian groups and cultural institutions. With his brother he has been an important funder of think tanks that lobby against environmental regulation. He has published four books on his business philosophy: Market Based Management (2006), The Science of Success (2007), Good Profit (2015) and Believe in People (2020). Sources: English Wikipedia (Charles Koch, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Chairman and CEO, Koch Industries

Company Details

Koch Industries

Conglomerate, Energy, Manufacturing