Charles G. Koch

Updated at: Jan. 20, 2017, 12:20 p.m.

Charles G. Koch is chairman of the board and CEO of Koch Industries Inc., a position he has held since 1967. He is renowned for growing Koch Industries from a company worth $21 million in the early 1960s to one with a current estimated value of $100 billion.

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 his Market-Based Management® (MBM®) business philosophy. The concepts and practice of MBM are described in Mr. Koch’s book, The Science of Success (2007). His follow-up book, Good Profit (2015), describes in more detail how creating value and maintaining integrity can lead to success.

For 50 years, Mr. Koch has supported academic and public policy research, with a special focus on developing voluntary, market-based solutions to social problems. This interest led Mr. Koch to found or help build a number of organizations, including the Institute for Humane Studies, the Cato Institute, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and the Bill of Rights Institute.

Mr. Koch received a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and two master’s degrees, in nuclear and chemical engineering, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He and his wife, Liz, have been married for over 40 years and live in Wichita, Kansas. They have two children.


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Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World's Most Successful Companies