Charles Koch

Charles de Ganahl Koch is an American businessman, political donor and philanthropist. As of March 2019, he was ranked as the 11th-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $50.5 billion.

• Charles Koch has been chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, America’s second largest private company by revenue, since 1967.
• The diversified company has some $110 billion in revenues from businesses including pipelines, chemicals, Dixie cups, and Stainmaster carpet.
• His father, Fred Koch, improved a method of refining heavy oil into gasoline in 1927 and started the family business in 1940.
• The Kansas native owns a 42% stake in the firm, as did his brother David, who died in August 2019.
• In 1983 Charles and David bought their two other brothers’ stakes in Koch Industries.
• His son Chase heads the company’s venture capital arm, which has invested in hybrid cloud firm Mesosphere and 3D metal printing startup Desktop Metal.