Photo of the Koch Industries Building in Wichita
You’ve probably never heard of Koch Industries or Charles Koch. Well, so did I, until I read Kochland.
Kochland is an exploratory biography into the secretive Koch Industries headed by Charles Koch. Koch Industries is one of the largest multinational conglomerates in the world. Koch Industries is a behemoth of a company that controls commodities such as oil and fertilizer.
Many would believe that such a big company would have IPO-ed, but no. Charles Koch has strategically endured and chosen to keep the company privatized. Hence, maintaining the internal order and control within such a big company and preventing prying eyes from peering into company secrets.
The book brings us into how Charles Koch took over the company from his late father, Fred C. Koch, and transformed a company using long-term strategic planning. Charles Koch realized the importance of empowering workers and invented a new form of management called “Market-based Management” (MBM). This MBM culture is instilled into the 120,000 employees that work at Koch Industries.
Such huge successes, however, came with a sacrifice. Kochland brings us deep into the story of the war between the Koch Brothers, and how they tussled for power amongst each other. It shows us how shrewd Charles Koch is, and the book claims that Charles Koch himself caused the stagnation of Climate Change progress. Through strategic lobbying, Charles was about to stop the progress of many Key Climate Initiatives - all were going against Koch Industries.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding how politics, economics, and business come together.
