Charles Koch
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Charles de Ganahl Koch (pronounced "coke") (born 1 November 1935) is an engineer and chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held company by revenue in the United States.[1]
Stock History
From 1961, when Koch went to work at his father's business, through 2006, the value of the Standard & Poor's 500 grew about 110-fold, assuming the reinvestment of dividends. During that same period, the value of Koch Industries grew nearly 2,000-fold, using the same assumptions. The growth of Koch companies has been achieved both through acquisitions and through expansion and broadening of existing businesses. Koch companies also exit or decrease their investments in businesses based on a continuous evaluation process that compares their internal value to their market value. (See Koch Industries acquisitions and related milestones.)
Market-based Management
Much of Koch Industries' success can be traced to the oil industry and Charles Koch's interest in and commitment to scientific and social progress, which led to the development and implementation of the Market-Based Management business philosophy. The concepts and practice of MBM are described in Koch’s book, Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company (ISBN 978-0-470-13988-2), published in March 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mr. Koch is further developing the theories and expanding the practice of the MBM philosophy, as well as other applications of the science of human action, not only throughout Koch Industries, but also with scholars, non-profit leaders, government officials and other business leaders.
Education
Koch's academic life was spent at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1957, he received a bachelor's degree in general engineering. He also received a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1958 and a masters degree in chemical engineering in 1960.
Personal
Koch was born and lives in Wichita, Kansas, one of four sons of Fred C. and Mary Robinson Koch. Koch and his wife, Liz, have two children, Elizabeth and Chase. As of 2008 his worth is approximately $17 billion according to the Forbes 400 list[2]. His brother, David H. Koch, was the Libertarian Party's candidate for vice president in 1980.
Non-profit activities,
Koch is a libertarian and supports many free-market organizations such as the Cato Institute, which he founded together with Edward H. Crane and Murray Rothbard in 1977[3]. Koch also funds the highly selective Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program through the Institute for Humane Studies.
Books
- The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company, 2007
References
- ^ Forbes List
- ^ "The 400 Richest Americans". Forbes. March 5, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "25 Years at Cato" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-07-10.
External links
- Charles Koch: Exclusive Interview with the World's Most Successful Private Billionaire
- Wall Street Journal: The Weekend Interview Private Enterprise: Charles Koch applied the "science of liberty" to become one of the world's richest men
- Forbes: Mr. Big
- "Power Profile: Charles G. Koch," Mark Tapscott, The Examiner, November 11, 2007