Georgia-Pacific A pulp and paper product company based in Atlanta, Georgia, that makes tissue, pulp, paper, toilet-paper and paper-towel dispensers, packaging, building products and related chemicals. Guardian Glass A company based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, making glass for architectural, residential, interior, transportation and technical applications. Invista Maker of fibers, fabrics, polymers, and chemicals, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
Molex A Lisle, Illinois-based company that makes connectors and other parts for the electronics industry. What precisely does that mean? Koch Engineered Solutions This company works in the US and abroad providing process- and pollution-control equipment for industrial facilities.
New strategies. Matador Cattle This company raises cattle for beef in ranches in Texas, Kansas, and Montana that cover , acres and 12, cattle. It also sells calves and even semen from high-pedigree breeds. In , Koch Industries pleaded guilty to five felonies in federal court, including conspiracy to commit fraud. With Republicans and Democrats united in regulating the oil business, Charles had begun throwing his wealth behind the upstart Libertarian Party, seeking to transform it into a viable third party.
Bill also shared these concerns with the federal government. Senate investigators suspected the company was making off with more crude from tribal oil fields than it measured and paid for.
They set up a sting, sending an FBI agent to coordinate stakeouts of eight remote leases. Now they would spend millions in efforts to influence — and ultimately take over — the GOP. The work began close to home; the Kochs had become dedicated patrons of Sen. Arizona Sen. In the early s, in a high-profile initiative of the first-term Clinton White House, the administration was pushing for a levy on the heat content of fuels. Known as the BTU tax, it was the earliest attempt by the federal government to recoup damages from climate polluters.
But Koch Industries could not stand losing its most valuable subsidy: the public policy that allowed it to treat the atmosphere as an open sewer.
Koch entered the s on a pipeline-buying spree. By , its network measured 37, miles. According to sworn testimony from former Koch employees, the company operated its pipelines with almost complete disregard for maintenance. For Charles, MBM — first communicated to employees in — was an attempt to distill the business practices that had grown Koch into one of the largest oil businesses in the world.
To incentivize workers, Koch gives employees bonuses that correlate to the value they create for the company. To prevent the stagnation that can often bog down big enterprises, Koch was also determined to incentivize risk-taking. On paper, MBM sounds innovative and exciting. Applying MBM to pipeline maintenance, Koch employees calculated that the opportunity cost of shutting down equipment to ensure its safety was greater than the profit potential of pushing aging pipe to its limits.
It would take away from our profit margin. When small spills occurred, Dubose testified, the company would cover them up. Before the worst spill from this time, Koch employees had raised concerns about the integrity of a s-era pipeline in South Texas. But the company not only kept the line in service, it increased the pressure to move more volume.
When a valve snapped shut in , the brittle pipeline exploded. More than 90, gallons of crude spewed into Gum Hollow Creek, fouling surrounding marshlands and both Nueces and Corpus Christi bays with a mile oil slick.
By , the EPA had seen enough. It sued Koch for gross violations of the Clean Water Act. It was also violating federal environmental law in other corners of the empire. Through much of the s at its Pine Bend refinery in Minnesota, Koch spilled up to , gallons of jet fuel into wetlands near the Mississippi River. This facility had already been declared a Superfund site in In , Koch was hit with a count indictment over claims it violated the Clean Air Act by venting massive quantities of benzene at a refinery in Corpus Christi — and then attempted to cover it up.
According to the indictment, Koch filed documents with Texas regulators indicating releases of just 0. But the government alleged that Koch had been informed its true emissions that year measured 91 metric tons, or 15 times the legal limit. By the time the case came to trial, however, George W. Bush was in office and the indictment had been significantly pared down — Koch faced charges on only seven counts.
Seventeen years old, with long chestnut hair, Danielle began to feel nauseated. The Smalleys were too poor to own a telephone. As they drove away, the truck stalled where the driveway crossed a dry creek bed.
Danielle cranked the ignition, and a fireball engulfed the truck. Unknown to the Smalleys, a decrepit Koch pipeline carrying liquid butane — literally, lighter fluid — ran through their subdivision.
Installed in the early Eighties, the pipeline had been out of commission for three years. When Koch decided to start it up again in , a water-pressure test had blown the pipe open. Koch repaired only 80 of the defects — enough to allow the pipeline to withstand another pressure check — and began running explosive fluid down the line at high pressure in January Charles Koch had made it clear to managers that they were expected to slash costs and boost profits.
The company collectively employs over , people across 70 countries, although most are Americans. Through its subsidiaries, Koch produces oil, resins, polymers, glass, robotics, biofuels, paper, and toilet paper. Koch also holds plenty of oil, chemical, and energy assets, including fertilizer. Its non-profit foundations began with the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation in and also includes a variety of Koch-themed trusts.
Charles started aggressively expanding in when he partnered with Marshall to take over the Pine Bend oil refinery that greatly increased its capabilities. It soon entered global commodity trading, real estate, risk management, and more. Think of him as the Michael Bluth of the family. He inherited a successful company, but he took it in a different direction. Flint Hills markets a variety of chemical applications, coatings, automotive parts, and asphalt and sells products on a worldwide basis, including the United States, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, Central America, and New Zealand.
Koch Industries acquired Georgia Pacific on Dec. It is based in Atlanta, Georgia, but markets worldwide. Originally known as Georgia Hardwood Lumber Co. The list of products also includes the well-known brands Quilted Northern tissue, Brawny paper towels, and Dixie cups.
Koch Industries completed its full acquisition of Guardian Industries on Feb. Think of Guardian Industries as a glass company. It manufactures glass for automobiles, building applications, fiberglass insulation, and coated glass for architectural needs. The company is also known for its research and development of new applications for glass, such as energy-efficient windows. Invista makes spandex, resins, chemicals, and polymers and is a spinoff of DuPont.
The company concentrates on textiles and owns numerous brands such as Lycra, Tactel, and Thermolite, as well as brands for outdoor gear, carpet Stainmaster , and luggage. When Koch Industries purchased Invista in , the conglomerate merged the polymers subsidiary with its existing KoSa subsidiary in order to create a new company under the Invista name.
The company counted nearly , products in its catalog in and had more than 35, employees in 15 countries. Molex creates electronics to solve technical problems in electric cars, robotic surgery, and even the Mars Exploration Rover. The company is also involved in fiber optics, smartphones, and defense applications.
With about 80 years of history, Molex has been a critical part of the development of some of the most prominent technologies of today, including the first cell phones, HDTVs, and car radios. The annual revenues from Koch Industries, making it one of the biggest private companies in North America.
It uses its expertise in market analysis, purchasing, hedging , and energy logistics to provide comprehensive services to other companies. Lastly, Koch Methanol is a methanol supplier. It was originally established to fulfill the needs of Koch Industries subsidiaries, but it now works with other companies as well. The pipelines transport oil and refined petroleum, as well as natural gas.
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