The Koch family controls Koch Industries, the privately held conglomerate founded by Fred C. Koch in 1940.
Fred C. Koch established the company after developing an improved thermal cracking process for refining gasoline. His sons Charles and David Koch later expanded the business, buying additional shares from their brothers Frederick and William in the 1980s. Koch Industries grew far beyond oil refining into chemicals, energy, manufacturing, paper products, ranching, and trading.
The company is one of the largest privately held businesses in the United States. Charles Koch became chairman and chief executive, while David Koch was a major co-owner and executive until his death in 2019. The Koch family is also known for political giving and philanthropy, but those activities are separate from the company’s industrial operations.
Koch Industries should not be confused with the Rockefeller family’s historical oil empire or Getty Oil.