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The Koch family (/ˈkoʊk/ kohk) of industrialists and businessmen is most notable for their control of Koch Industries, the second largest privately owned company in the United States. The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy oil into gasoline. Fred's four sons became involved in litigation against each other in the 1980s and 1990s. According to the Koch Family Foundations and Philanthropy website, "the foundations and the individual giving of Koch family members" have financially supported organizations "fostering entrepreneurship, education, human services, at-risk youth, arts and culture, and medical research."

David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch—the two brothers still with Koch Industries—are affiliated with the Koch family foundations. Annual revenues for Koch Industries have been "estimated to be a hundred billion dollars."

Political activities

David and Charles have funded conservative and libertarian policy and advocacy groups in the United States. Since the 1980s the Koch foundations have given more than $100 million to such organizations, among these think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, as well as more recently Americans for Prosperity. Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are Koch-linked organizations that have been linked to the Tea Party movement.

The Koch family employs no less than 30 government lobbyists. In 2008 the Koch brothers contributed $20.5 million to political interests. Koch Industries has lobbied to change more than 100 pieces of federal legislation. They included trying to loosen regulations on potentially poisonous substances like dioxins, benzene and asbestos. Through their political activities they have resisted restrictions on carbon emissions and funded thinktanks and groups that promote efforts to discredit climate change science. They tried to soften attempts at financial reform where the Kochs operate in the derivatives market. Wherever a law touched on a Koch corporate interests, the company's lobbyists were there trying to subvert, retard or even roll-back any attempt at regulation.

Family members

• Fred C. Koch (1900–1967), American chemical engineer and entrepreneur who founded the oil refinery firm that later became Koch Industries
• Mary Robinson Koch (October 17, 1907 – December 21, 1990), wife of Fred C. and namesake of the company tanker vessel Mary R. Koch
• Four sons of Fred C. and Mary Robinson Koch:
  • Frederick R. Koch (born 1933), collector and philanthropist
  • Charles G. Koch (born 1935), Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Koch Industries
  • David H. Koch (born 1940), Executive Vice President of Koch Industries
  • William Koch (born 1940), businessman, sailor, and collector

See also

• David Koch Theatre
• Charles Koch Arena
• David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
• The Science of Success, a book by Charles Koch in which he attributes the success of the family business to Market-Based Management
• Koch Industries

References

1. "Forbes America's Largest Private Companies". Forbes.com. Retrieved 10/4/11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
2. Koch, Charles C. (2007). The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-470-13988-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
3. "Koch Industries, Inc". Company Profile Report. Hoover's, Inc. 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010. hen he tried to market his invention, the major oil companies sued him for patent infringement. Koch eventually won the lawsuits (after 15 years in court), but the controversy made it tough to attract many US customers.
4. "Epic struggle among Koch brothers ends". Houston Chronicle. 26 May 2001. p. 2.
5. http://kochfamilyfoundations.org/Foundations.asp
6. Mayer, Jane(August 10, 2010) http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama The New Yorker
7. Zernike, Kate (October 19, 2010). "Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead". New York Times.
8. Charles Koch, in interview with Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal. 6 May 2006. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114687252956545543.html
9. Vogel, Kenneth P. (August 9, 2010), "Tea party's growing money problem", Politico, retrieved 2011-06-14
10. Fenn, Peter (February 2, 2011), "Tea Party Funding Koch Brothers Emerge From Anonymity", U.S. News & World Report, retrieved 2011-06-13
11. Harris, Paul (April 2011). "The Koch brothers: all the influence money can buy". The Guardian (United Kingdom). Retrieved 11 June 2012.
12. ^ Fred and Mary Koch Foundation

• Ill-formatted IPAc-en transclusions
• Koch family
• Political families of the United States
• Business families of the United States