Charles Koch

Charles Koch
Koch in 2019
Born	Charles de Ganahl Koch (1935-11-01) November 1, 1935 (age 88) Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Education	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS, MS)
Occupation	Businessman
Employer	Koch Industries
Title	Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries
Political party	Libertarian
Spouse	Liz Koch ​ (m. 1972)​ [1]
Children	Chase Koch[2] Elizabeth Koch[3]
Parents	Fred C. Koch Mary Robinson
Relatives	Frederick R. Koch (brother) David Koch (brother) Bill Koch (brother)
Signature

This article is part of a series on
Libertarianism in the United States
Schools Agorism Anarcho-capitalism Austro Autarchism Bleeding-heart Christian Consequentialist Feminist Fusionism Geo Green Market anarchism Minarchism Natural-rights Neo Paleo Panarchism Paternalist Propertarianism Techno Transhumanist Voluntaryism
Principles Anti-imperialism Civil libertarianism Constitutionalism Counter-economics Decentralization Departurism Economic freedom Evictionism Free banking Free market Free-market environmentalism Free migration Free trade Free will Freedom of association Freedom of contract Freedom of speech Homestead principle Individuality Individualism Liberty Limited government Localism Marriage privatization Natural rights and legal rights Non-aggression principle Non-interventionism Non-politics Non-voting Open border Polycentric law Private defense agency Private property Public choice theory Restorative justice Right to bear arms Rugged Individualism Self-ownership Single tax Small government Spontaneous order Stateless society Tax resistance Title-transfer theory of contract Voluntary association Voluntary society
History Age of Enlightenment Abolitionism in the United States Classical liberalism Anti-Federalism Transcendentalism Individualist anarchism in the United States Old Right New Left Freedom School
Economics Austrian School Economic liberalism Fiscal conservatism Georgism Laissez-faire Neoliberalism Supply-side economics
People Amash Andrews Barnett Block Brennan Burt Chamberlain Caplan Carson Chartier Chodorov Cleveland Coolidge Epstein D. Friedman M. Friedman P. Friedman R. Friedman Galambos Garrett George Gillespie Goldwater Greene Gutfeld Harper Hazlitt Heinlein Hess Heywood Hoppe Hospers Huemer Jacobs Jillette Johnson Jorgensen Kinsella C. Koch D. Koch Konkin C. Lane R. Lane LeFevre Machan McElroy Mencken Mises Napolitano Nock Nolan Nozick Paterson Paul Postrel Pugsley Rand Read Rockwell Rothbard Sarwark Schulman Sciabarra Scott Smith Sowell Skousen Spooner Stossel Swartz Szasz Taleb Teller Thiel Thoreau Tucker Ventura Warren Wilder Williams Wilson Woods
Issues Abortion Capital punishment Criticism Foreign affairs Immigration Intellectual property Internal debates LGBT rights Objectivism Political parties Politics State Theories of law
Culture Come and take it Gadsden flag Libertarian science fiction Ron Swanson
Organizations Cato Institute Federalist Society Free State Project Foundation for Economic Education International Alliance of Libertarian Parties Libertarian Party Liberty International Mises Institute Reason Foundation Students for a Democratic Society Students for Liberty
Works The Anarchist Cookbook Anarchy, State, and Utopia The Betrayal of the American Right Civil Disobedience Conceived in Liberty Defending the Undefendable The Discovery of Freedom End the Fed The Ethics of Liberty For a New Liberty Free to Choose The God of the Machine Liberty The Machinery of Freedom Man, Economy and State The Moon is a Harsh Mistress The Mainspring of Human Progress The Market for Liberty No, They Can't No Treason New Libertarian Manifesto Our Enemy, the State The Problem of Political Authority Progress and Poverty Protection or Free Trade Radicals for Capitalism Seeing Like a State To Serve and Protect The Unconstitutionality of Slavery
Related topics American militia movement Boogaloo movement Conservatism in the United States Dark Enlightenment Left-libertarianism Liberalism in the United States Libertarian conservatism Libertarian Democrat Libertarian Republican Libertarian socialism Libertarianism in Hong Kong Libertarianism in South Africa Libertarianism in the United Kingdom New Right Objectivism On Democracy in America Outline of libertarianism Right-libertarianism Sovereign citizen movement
Liberalism portal  Conservatism portal  Libertarianism portal  United States portal
v t e

Charles de Ganahl Koch (/koʊk/ KOHK; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman. As of February 2024, he was ranked as the 23rd richest man in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $64.9 billion.^[4] Koch has been co-owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of Koch Industries since 1967, while his late brother David Koch served as executive vice president. Charles and David each owned 42% of the conglomerate. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, then expanded the business.^[5] Koch Industries is the largest privately held company by revenue in the United States, according to Forbes.^[6]

Koch also supports a number of libertarian think tanks, including the Institute for Humane Studies, the Cato Institute, the Ayn Rand Institute,^[7] and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He also contributes to the Republican Party and candidates, libertarian groups, and various charitable and cultural institutions. He co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based Cato Institute. Along with his brother, Koch has been an important funder of think tanks that lobby to oppose environmental regulation. Koch has published four books detailing his business philosophy, Market Based Management (2006),^[8] The Science of Success (2007),^[9] Good Profit (2015),^[10] and Believe in People (2020).^[11]