Charles Koch Net Worth: Books & Career
An American Business Tycoon and Philanthropist, Charles Koch has a net worth of $65.2 billion which makes him the fifteenth richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Charles Koch was born on November the 1st in Kansas to Mary and Fred Chase Koch.
No wonder being a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology that too in mechanical engineering and chemical engineering, he would make it big in the business world.
With this in mind, The company Rock Island Oil & Refining was passed down to Charles and his younger brother David by their father, Fred Koch, who established it in 1940.
Later on, he renamed the company’s name Koch industries, and now it is one of the country’s largest privately held corporations.
In 1982, he became a director of Koch Industries.
He currently serves on several other companies’ boards, including Entrust Financial Corp. and Georgia-Pacific LLC, both of which manufacture paper and pulp products.
He worked relentlessly to expand the company, as a result, which is now active in a variety of industries.
That includes chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, refining, and distribution of petroleum.
The Koch Industries witnessed an extraordinary rate of expansion under Charles Koch’s leadership.
It now operates in about 60 different countries across the world, employing more than 100,000 people.
More than 930 medals for safety, environmental excellence, community responsibility, innovation, and customer service have been given to Koch Industries.
Quick Facts
Let’s have a look at some of his details in brief.
| Full Name | Charles Di Genahi Coach | |
| Known as | Charles Koch | |
| Date of birth | November 1, 1935 | |
| Place of birth | Wichita, Kansas | |
| Age | 89 Years Old | |
| Marital Status | Liz Koch (married 1972) | |
| Children |
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| Father’s name | Fred C Koch | |
| Mother’s name | Mary Robinson | |
| Siblings |
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| Gender | Male | |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio | |
| Education | Masters, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Hair color | White | |
| Eye color | Black | |
| Height | 1.70m | |
| Weight | 82kg | |
| Religion | N\A | |
| Residence | Wichita, Kansas, US | |
| Nationality | United States | |
| Ethnicity | White | |
| Profession | Businessman, Political Donor, Philanthropist | |
| Net worth | $65.2 billion | |
| Awards & Honors | Honorary Doctor of Science, Commerce & Laws from George Mason University, Washburn University & Babson College, respectively. | |
| Foundation | Charles Koch Foundation | |
| Social media | ||
| Last Update | March, 2025 |
Charles Koch Net Worth & Income
According to Forbes, he, along with his late brother David is the sixth richest person globally, with each having a net worth of $41.5 billion.
Koch Industries is the second-largest privately held firm in the United States, with annual revenues of more than $100 billion.
Certainly, Charles owns 42 percent of the Koch industries.
Koch’s net worth was more than $40 billion in 2014 when the firm achieved a staggering $90 billion in revenue.
Thus, he was ranked the world’s ninth-richest person by “Hurun Report.”
You’re probably wondering what things the multi-billionaires make that led to an increase in their turnover.
They manufacture the following products mentioned below.
Paper Products
They manufacture paper products and distribute them under Georgia-Pacific and paper towels, napkins, and soap dispensing systems for commercial use.
Wood Products
It should be noted that Georgia-Pacific is the largest plywood maker in the United States.
Various wood products are also manufactured Blue Ribbon, Clutter Cutter, DensArmor Plus, DensDeck, DensGlass, Hushboard, Nautilus, Ply-Bead, Plytanium, Southern Gold, Sta-Strait, Thermostat, ToughRock, and Wood I Beam.
Textiles
Not only Paper or woods but Invista Products, a Koch Brothers brand, manufactures textiles also.
Invista produces a wide range of items such as film products, polyester intermediate feedstocks, fibers,
- Stainmaster
- Dacron
- Lycra
- CoolMax
- SolarMax
- Polarguard
- Thermolite
- Antron
Coal & Oil
Koch operates refineries in Alaska, Minnesota, and Texas through its companies, with a combined crude oil processing capacity of more than 800,000 barrels per day.
- Gasoline
- Diesel
- Jet fuel
- Naphtha
- Asphalt
- Fracking Chemicals
- Benzene
You might also like to read about Bill Gates Net Worth.
Lifestyle
He’s 6 feet 3 inches tall and slender, thanks to a strict diet.
He opts for a virtually daily 90-minute routine that includes 30 minutes of Pilates, 30 minutes of aerobics, and 30 minutes of weight lifting.
He carefully considers each sentence, frequently pausing in the second clause to rephrase the first.
Charles is a hard worker who would often work 12 hours a day at the office
You might be surprised to know that he expects Koch Industries executives to do the same even on the weekends. Well, Obviously a work maniac we are talking about.
Even though his commute to work is only 10 minutes long, he puts an audiobook in the player and uses those minutes to learn something new.
Undoubtedly, Charles Koch prefers to live his life following certain ideologies; he believes he has worked out the pattern for human society’s organization.
At the dinner table, Charles taught his son Chase and daughter Elizabeth about values and virtues. And on Sunday afternoons, it would be around an hour of sitting.
Vacations
Charles Koch took his wife skiing till his knees gave up.
Even though the slopes he took were two levels beyond her ability, he made it obvious that she should ski with him on the slopes.
Well, that’s what you get when you have an adventurous yet fearless husband by your side.
Charles Koch’s Houses
Houses
Being the billionaire he is, it is pretty obvious that he would own several houses.
But his primary residence is in Wichita, next to the Wichita Country Club.
On the same complex where he grew up, he has a beautiful estate with a tennis court.
Moreover, Koch paid $3.25 million for the property next door near his brother David’s in 2018.
He also has properties in Aspen and Vail, Colorado.
Business magnate Charles also owns a property at the Vintage Club, where he spends his vacations.
Additionally, In 1999, he paid $10 million for a 7,500-square-foot home in Indian Wells, California.
Cars
As a multi-billionaire, he must have had an amazing portfolio of cars.
But surprisingly, there is nothing to mention about it as he likes to keep his high profile hidden.
What a bummer! Guess we wouldn’t get to have a peek at Billionaire’s lavish motors.
Charles Koch Documentary, Investments & Book Publications
Documentary
Robert Greenwald’s documentary video “Koch Brothers Exposed”(2012) is all about Koch Industries pollution in Arkansas, Koch-funded politicians, Koch-funded universities, assault on public schools, voting rights, labor unions, and the United States Social Security system.
This film is not tone-neutral; it is without a doubt critical of Koch.
Nonetheless, he is still leading the topmost private company.
Investments
Koch Industries owns
- Invista
- Georgia-Pacific
- Koch Pipeline
- Molex
- Flint Hills Resources
- Koch Minerals
- Matador Cattle Company
- Koch Fertilizer
and has invested more than $70 billion in acquisitions and other capital expenditures in recent years.
In fact, Charles and David Koch established a political network of libertarian and conservative benefactors.
Similarly, they invested their money in television and other forms of media advertising as well.
Book Publications
Koch’s business philosophy has been the subject of three books, for instance, “Good Profit,” “The Science of Success,” and “Believe in People.”
Good Profit
Koch leads the reader through the five dimensions of MBM to explain how to apply its framework to earn more good profit in any firm, industry, or organization of any size.
With this, he draws on fascinating, honest, and previously unheard experiences from his nearly six decades in business.
This book was released in October 2015, and there are seven editions available of this book.
The Science Of Success: Market Based Management
This book provides an insider’s guide to how he grew Koch Industries into the world’s largest privately held corporation.
Koch has spent decades studying how markets work; his devotion to passing that knowledge on to future generations will encourage, specifically, entrepreneurs.
This was released in February 2007.
Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World
He, along with Brian Hooks, released this book on November 17, 2020.
This book demonstrates how one can overcome injustice if one has a strong belief in people.
And how much that person is willing to work with anyone to do the right thing and work to empower others from the ground up.
Charity
The “Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation” makes large contributions to more than 180 colleges and institutions.
Billionaire businessmen direct it intending to support education and research initiatives,
Through the advancement of economic freedom, Charles’s foundation aspires to advance humanity’s social progress as well as their well-being.
He has donated millions of dollars to fund research, policy, and educational endeavors as a significant philanthropist to rephrase it.
Along with his brother, David, Charles has contributed significantly $246 million to libertarian and conservative think tanks and campaigns.
Furthermore, he is a supporter of the Cato Institute, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Bill of Rights Institute, and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, among other free-market research institutions.
He has given money to the Republican Party, especially libertarian organizations, charity, and cultural organizations.
Career
Charles grew raised alongside Frederick, his older brother, and David and Bill, his younger twin siblings.
In 1961, Charles returned to Wichita immediately after finishing his studies.
He began working for his father at Rock Island Oil & Refining Company, subsequently becoming president in 1966.
Although Bill and Frederick inherited Koch Industries stock, Charles and David sold their shares in 1983 for $1.1 billion.
Above all, Charles took over the inherited company and grew it to about 2,600 times its original size.
The corporation expanded by opening a business in the several countries such as United States, Mexico, Brazil, and China, acquiring 37,000 miles of oil and gas pipeline
Also diversifying into pollution control systems and technology, forest and consumer products, minerals, and fertilizers, among other things.
On the other hand, Bill continued to sue Charles and David in court until 2000 for various reasons.
However, Koch Industries settled a lawsuit for $25 million, according to reports.
Unlike his equation with his younger brother Bill, he is much closer to David.
For the most part, Charles has done much to Koch Enterprises to make it as giant today.
Some Interesting Facts About Him
- Prostate cancer struck all four of the Koch brothers at some time in their life, and unfortunately, David died after a nearly three-decade battle with the disease.
- In 2001, at a dinner convened at Bill’s Palm Beach mansion to sign a final settlement dividing up their father’s possessions, Charles, David, and Bill put a stop to their long-running dispute.
- Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act was opposed by Charles Koch, an outspoken opponent of the president.
FAQs
Is Koch a good company to work for?
Koch is a fantastic company indeed with excellent benefits and wages and with some great supervisors.
Did one of the Koch brothers die as a result of cancer?
Yes, David Koch, the younger brother of Charles Koch, died in 2015 at 75.
What is Koch’s salary?
Koch Industries projected average annual income, including base and bonus, is $128,353, or $61 per hour, with a median pay of roughly $127,772, or $61 per hour.
