Charles G. Koch

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Charles de Ganahl Koch (born November 1, 1935) is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held company by revenue in the U.S.[1].

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.)

Much of Koch Industries' success can be traced to Mr. 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 Mr. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Koch also funds the highly selective Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program through the Institute for Humane Studies.

Brother David H. Koch ran for vice president for the Libertarian Party in 1980.