Outing the Oligarchy - International Forum on Globalization

— INDIVIDUALS OF UNDUE INFLUENCE —
CHARLES AND DAVID KOCH, USA
$50 BILLION [AS OF NOVEMBER 2011]
Wealth: In 2010, Koch Industries topped $100 billion in sales and now ranks as America’s second-largest
private company, behind Cargill (with $109.8 billion). 6 The Koch bro<strong>the</strong>rs’ fa<strong>the</strong>r, Fred C. Koch, invented <strong>the</strong>
“cracking” method for refining crude oil into gasoline, and <strong>the</strong> family fortune is founded on <strong>the</strong> expansion of
<strong>the</strong> fossil fuels economy. Sons Charles, David, Frederick and William inherited Koch Industries after <strong>the</strong>ir
fa<strong>the</strong>r, who also founded <strong>the</strong> John Birch Society. Charles and David bought out William and Frederick for
$1.1 billion in 1983. Today, <strong>the</strong> company has stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, fibers and polymers,
forest and consumer products, chemical technology, and commodity and financial trading. Koch Industries
employs 70,000 workers in 60 countries. In 2004, <strong>the</strong> company purchased Invista, <strong>the</strong> maker of Lycra and
Coolmax fabric, for $4.2 billion. In 2005, Koch Industries purchased <strong>the</strong> paper and building-supply vendor
Georgia-Pacific for $21 billion. The Koch bro<strong>the</strong>rs now profit from <strong>the</strong> sale of every Dixie Cup and every
roll of Brawny kitchen tissue and Quilted Nor<strong>the</strong>rn toilet paper. Each bro<strong>the</strong>r owns 42 percent of <strong>the</strong> Koch
Industries.
The Koch’s Flint Hills Resources subsidiary owns three refineries that process more than 800,000 barrels of
crude oil daily. Koch operates crude ga<strong>the</strong>ring systems and pipelines across North America as well as cattle
ranches in Kansas, Montana, and Texas with a total of 15,000 head of cattle, a huge source of <strong>the</strong> dangerous
greenhouse gas methane. The company owns a 3 percent stake in <strong>the</strong> Trans Alaska Pipeline System, 4,000
miles of pipelines that carry crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and chemicals across <strong>the</strong>
United States, and an 80,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Rotterdam in The Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands. Koch’s numerous
subsidiaries (including its proprietary Market Based Management system) uses its operational, trading,
transaction and public-sector skills to create long-term value for its customers. The company has pursued a
strategy of reinvesting about 90 percent of its earnings into acquisitions and investments (some $32 billion
between 2005-2010, including <strong>the</strong> $21 billion purchase of Georgia-Pacific). Expanding its product line, in
2010 Georgia-Pacific agreed to buy oriented strand board manufacturer Grant Forest Products for $400
million.
Power Networks: Charles and David Koch co-founded <strong>the</strong> Cato Institute (a radical right think tank) and
David (along with Koch board member Richard Fink) created Americans for Prosperity, a controversial
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