Jim Koch: Co-founder of the Boston Beer Company
Business Owner · Food & Beverage
Jim Koch left consulting in 1984 to brew Samuel Adams from his great-great-grandfather's recipe, becoming a founding father of American craft brewing.
About Jim Koch: Co-founder of the Boston Beer Company
Charles James "Jim" Koch (born May 27, 1949, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American businessman who is the co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company, producer of Samuel Adams beer. He is widely considered a founding father of the American craft brewing movement. He should not be confused with Charles Koch of Koch Industries. Koch was born to German-American parents, Charles and Dorothy Koch; his father was a fifth-generation brewer. He earned a Bachelor of Arts, an MBA and a law degree from Harvard University, worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and was formerly an Outward Bound instructor. In 1984 he co-founded the Boston Beer Company. He took it public in 1995 and owns a 19.5% stake, giving him a net worth of over $1 billion; in 2023 he ranked #1905 on the Forbes Billionaires list. In 2016 Koch published Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two, describing how he left his consulting career to start a brewery using his great-great-grandfather's recipe. At an August 2018 dinner with President Donald Trump he said the 2017 corporate tax cut had helped make Boston Beer more competitive with foreign rivals, adding that "when I started Sam Adams, American beer was a joke" and that 85 percent of the beer made in the United States is owned by foreign companies. The comments drew criticism. Sources: English Wikipedia (Jim Koch, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Co-founder and Chairman, Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)
Company Details
Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)
Craft Brewing, Beverages
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