Famous Entrepreneurs Information

Charles Koch
Net Worth: $14 billion
Source: Koch Industries/U.S.
Age: 73
Marital Status: Married, two children

• Fortune of one of America's richest men down more than 25% in past six months as fertilizer, oil, chemical markets all collapsed.

• Still, sales at his Koch Industries topped $100 billion in 2008; company now America's second-largest private company.

• Father, Fred C. Koch (died 1967), invented method of turning heavy oil into gasoline. Sons Charles, David, Frederick and William inherited Koch Industries after father's death. Charles and David bought out William and Frederick for $1.1 billion in 1983.

• Today company has stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, fibers and polymers, forest and consumer products, chemical technology.

• Employs 80,000 workers in 60 countries.

• Purchased Invista, maker of Lycra and Coolmax fabric, in 2004 for $4.2 billion.

• Dropped $21 billion on paper and building-supply vendor Georgia-Pacific the following year. Brothers each own 42%.

• Charles is chief executive.

• Studied nuclear and chemical engineering at MIT; co-founder of conservative think tank Cato Institute.

by Luisa Kroll, Matthew Miller, and Tatiana Serafin

Labels: Charles Koch, famous entrepreneurs, Koch Industries