Fred C Koch Biography
(Chemical Engineer, Entrepreneur)
Birthday: September 23, 1900 (Libra)
Born In: Quanah, Texas, United States
Fred C Koch was an American chemical engineer and entrepreneur who built what is now known as ‘Koch Industries,’ a business empire that was described by ‘Forbes’ as “the world’s largest private company.” With a desire and ambition for power and money, this small-town genius developed an oil-extraction technology, which positioned him at the helm of the oil industry at a time when economic development was synonymous with oil reserves. During the Great Depression, when the American people had lost everything, ‘Koch-Winkler’ was one of those companies that made millions from their oil contracts with Russia. In fact, when people were starving and queuing up for bread in the dead of winter, Koch commissioned the construction of his mansion in Wichita, Kansas. In a book titled ‘Dark Money’ (2016), writer Jane Mayer revealed how Koch built his empire with the money that came from two of history’s most infamous dictators, Stalin and Hitler. Koch aided both the regimes by building oil refineries based on a more efficient technology developed by him. He built the third-largest refinery for Hitler’s regime, which helped in refueling warplanes. Currently, ‘Koch Industries’ is worth $100 billion.