Koch Industries, Inc. (pronounced like "coke"), based in Wichita, Kansas, is the largest privately owned company in the world by revenue, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch companies are involved in core industries such as commodities trading, petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, ranching, securities and finance, as well as in other ventures and investments. It has an annual turnover of about $80 billion. ^[1] Nickname Air Capital Location Location in the state of Kansas Government County Sedgwick Mayor Carlos Mayans Geographical characteristics Area  - City    - Land    - Water 138. ... Official language(s) English Capital Topeka Largest city Wichita Area  Ranked 15th  - Total 82,277 sq. ... For other uses of the specific phrase The World, see The World (disambiguation). ... This article is about general United States currency. ...

Fred C. Koch, for whom Koch Industries, Inc., is named, co-founded the company in 1940 and invented an innovative crude oil refining process. Charles G. Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, and David H. Koch, executive vice president, are principal owners of the company. The latter owns 40% of Koch Industries, and has stated that the company will publicly offer shares "literally over my dead body". ^[1] Fred C. Koch born Quanah, Texas (1900-1967) was the father of both David and Charles Koch. ... Charles G. Koch (November 1, 1935– ) is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, Inc. ... David Koch David H. Koch (1940-) was the Libertarian Partys vice-presidential candidate in the 1980 U.S. presidential election, sharing the party ticket with Ed Clark. ...

Acquisitions and related milestones

The following is a partial list of acquisitions and related events:

• 1940: Fred Koch co-founds Wood River Oil and Refining Company.
• 1946: The company acquires Rock Island Oil & Refining Co. in Oklahoma.
• 1959: The company changes name to Rock Island Oil & Refining.
• 1959: Fred Koch purchases 35% equity position in Great Northern Oil Company in St. Paul MN, sight-unseen.
• 1967: Koch's death prompts the company, now led by Charles Koch, to be named Koch Industries in honor of its co-founder.
• 1969: Charles Koch and J. Howard Marshall II pool equity positions to obtain majority of Great Northern Oil Company. After 100% equity was obtained, the refinery was renamed Koch Refining.
• 1977: Koch acquires 100% of equity in Abcor and later renamed it as Koch Membrane Systems in 1985
• 1981: The company acquires refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, from Sun Oil.
• 1986: The company acquires the C. Reiss Coal Company.
• 1989: The company purchases the assets of the John Zink Company.
• 1992: The company acquires United Gas Pipeline.
• 1993: Elf Asphalt is acquired.
• 1997: The company acquires Delhi Group.
• 1998: Purina Mills is acquired.
• 1998: The company forms KoSa after acquiring 50 percent ownership of Hoechst's polyester division.
• 2000: A U.S. Bankruptcy court cancelled out all equity in Purina held by Koch, in order to maintain Purina's viability.
• 2001: The company partners with Entergy Corporation to form the limited partnership Entergy-Koch, which includes Koch's United Gas Pipeline subsidiary.
• 2004: Koch acquires the INVISTA fibers and resins business from DuPont. Entergy-Koch is sold.
• 2005: Koch acquires Georgia-Pacific, its largest acquisition ever, and surpasses Cargill as the largest privately owned U.S. company.

The Ralston Purina Company, formerly based in St. ... In the United States, Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. ... Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR), based in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Delaware chartered corporation engaged in electric power production, retail distribution operations, energy marketing and trading, and gas transportation. ... A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners (GPs), there are one or more limited partners (LPs). ... Invista can mean either: INVISTA is the worlds largest integrated fiber, resin and intermediates company. ... This article is about the DuPont company. ... Georgia-Pacific Corp. ... Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation, and is based in the state of Minnesota in the United States. ...

Political activity

The Koch brothers also operate the Koch Family Foundations, a major source of funding for conservative and libertarian political causes in the United States, including think tanks such as the Cato Institute. (Their father helped found the John Birch Society.) David's political activism also includes running as the vice presidential nominee of the United States Libertarian Party in 1980, when he and running mate Edward Clark finished fourth with 921,299 votes. Koch Family Foundations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... The Cato Institute is a large libertarian, non-profit public policy research foundation (think tank) headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institutes stated mission is to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Libertarian Party is a United States political party created in 1971. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Koch also supports Americans for Prosperity, formed as a successor to Citizens for a Sound Economy. Rich Fink, a Koch executive vice president, is a member of the board of directors of Americans for Prosperity. Previously he served as president of Citizens for a Sound Economy. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In April of 2006, it was announced that the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation had contributed $1 million to help preserve the tallgrass prairies of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County, Kansas. The donation made to the Kansas Prairie Legacy Campaign is reportedly the single largest private donation in the State's history. Currently Liz Koch is the president of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation, and has been reported as saying that the Flint Hills of Kansas were a special place for Fred C. Koch, who died in 1967, and Mary R. Koch, who died in 1990. The Flint Hills is where their ashes were spread and their headstones placed. The $1 million donation was made as a special way to honor the love Fred and Mary had for the Kansas Prairie. ^[2] Koch Family Foundations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. ... On November 12, 1996, legislation was passed creating Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. ... Chase County (standard abbreviation: CS) is a county located in the state of Kansas. ... Official language(s) English Capital Topeka Largest city Wichita Area  Ranked 15th  - Total 82,277 sq. ... The Nature Conservancy is an environmental organization, founded in 1951. ... Charles G. Koch (November 1, 1935– ) is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, Inc. ... The Flint Hills are a group of hills in eastern Kansas, extending from Marshall County in the north, to Cowley County in the south. ... Fred C. Koch born Quanah, Texas (1900-1967) was the father of both David and Charles Koch. ... Fred C. Koch born Quanah, Texas (1900-1967) was the father of both David and Charles Koch. ... The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. ... Prairie refers to an area of land in North America of low topographic relief that principally supports grasses and herbs, with few trees, and is generally of a mesic (moderate or temperate) climate. ...

Criticism

In 1989, the US Senate Committee on Investigations stated, "Koch Oil, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, is the most dramatic example of an oil company stealing by deliberate mismeasurement and fraudulent reporting." (Palast p.150) During the Clinton administration, Koch was charged with 315 acts of pollution. Koch Industries denied the allegations, but the cases were settled in January 2000 for $35 million in fines. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Water pollution Pollution is the release of chemical, physical, biological or radioactive contaminants to the environment. ...

In another instance, Koch was charged with 97 counts of covering up evidence in the case of a benzene spill in Corpus Christi, Texas. The government sought fines as high as $350 million. Four of its employees were also charged with criminal offenses in the case, facing up to 35 years in prison. In 2000, the Justice Department reduced the number of counts from 97 to 11 to nine to seven. Just before the case went to trial - only three months after the Bush administration took office - the Justice Department dropped the remaining seven counts and settled the case for $20 million. Koch pled guilty to one count of concealing evidence, which they had self-reported in 1996, and the criminal charges against the employees were dropped. (Center for Public Integrity -- Williams et al., July 2004) Nickname Sparkling City by the Sea Location Location in the state of Texas Government Counties Nueces County Kleberg County San Patricio County Mayor Henry Garrett Geographical characteristics Area  - City    - Land    - Water 1,192. ...

There is also speculation that these charges, brought against the company during the Clinton administration, were politically motivated against the then Texas governor Bush, to allegedly demonstrate his state's failure to handle big energy. The judge eventually dismissed 93 of the counts prior to going to trial due to lack of evidence, resulting in the Justice Department settling the case as noted above.

Notes and references

1. ^ ^a b Fisher, Daniel (Mar. 13, 2006). "Mr. Big", pp. 24–26. Forbes.
2. ^ Klepper, David (Apr. 05, 2006). "Campaign to preserve tallgrass prairie gets $1 million boost" Kansas City Star.

Disambiguation: For the Boston Brahmin family of John Forbes Kerry, see Forbes family. ... The Kansas City Star is a newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri. ...

Other references

• Palast, Greg (2002). The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
• Leslie Carbone and Ron Learned. The History of Koch Industries, Inc. And Its Management Philosophy (2006)

Greg Palast is a New York Times-bestselling author and a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as the British newspaper The Observer. ... The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (ISBN 0452283914, Penguin Plume USA) is a 2002 book written by left-wing investigative journalist Greg Palast. ...

External links

• Koch Industries
• Wall Street Journal: The Weekend Interview Private Enterprise: Charles Koch applied the "science of liberty" to become one of the world's richest men.

• Forbes: Mr. Big
• Koch's Low Profile Belies Political Power - Part of a "Politics of Oil" report by the Center for Public Integrity.
• An expose from Talking Points Memo