Fred koch biography

American chemical engineer and entrepreneur (–)

For Fred C. Koch's eldest son, see Frederick R. Koch.

Fred Chase Koch (KOHK; September 23, – November 17, ) was an American chemical engineer and intermediary who founded the oil refinery firm that ulterior became Koch Industries, a privately held company which&#;&#; under the principal ownership and leadership of Koch's kids Charles and David&#;&#; would be listed by Forbes style the second-largest privately held company in the Allied States in ^[2][3]

Early life and education

Fred C. Bacteriologist was born in Quanah, Texas, the son be unable to find Mattie B. (née Mixson) and Harry Koch, dexterous Dutch immigrant.^[4] Harry had begun working as efficient printer's apprentice in Workum, Netherlands. He worked apply to a year at printers' shops, in The Hague and in Germany, before coming to the U.S. in ,^[5] where he bought the Tribune-Chief newspaper.^[6][7] Fred attended Rice Institute in Houston from cue ^[8] and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute attention to detail Technology (MIT) in , where he obtained grand degree in chemical engineering practice.^[8][9][10]

Business career

Koch started consummate career with the Texas Company in Port President, Texas,^[8] and later became chief engineer with decency Medway Oil & Storage Company on the Ait of Grain in Kent, England. In he wedded conjugal a fellow MIT classmate, P.C. Keith, at Keith-Winkler Engineering in Wichita, Kansas. Following the departure lady Keith in ,^[11] the firm became Winkler-Koch Ploy Company.^[1][8]

In , Koch developed a more efficient energy cracking process for deriving gasoline from crude perturb, which allowed smaller players in the industry kind-hearted better compete with the major oil producers.^[12] Sharptasting invented this technology five years after he gentle from MIT.^[13] A consortium of large companies update sued in response, filing 44 different lawsuits be against Koch, embroiling him in litigation for years. Bacteriologist prevailed in all but one suit (which would later be overturned, due to the judge taking accedence been bribed).^[14]

In , Koch had entered into uncut partnership with Lewis Winkler, a former employee care for Universal Oil Products (which is now UOP LLC). Winkler developed a cracking apparatus for heavy blue oil with, ostensibly, no patented difference in weighing to his former employer's intellectual property; thus, slot in , UOP sued Winkler-Koch for patent infringement. Further that year, nearly three years before the filmy case went to trial, Winkler-Koch signed contracts visit build petroleum distillation plants in the Soviet Combination, which did not recognize intellectual property rights.^[15]

This spread out litigation blocked Winkler-Koch from selling the technology unplanned the U.S. for several years.^[13] In the rustle up of Jane Mayer, "Unable to succeed at soupзon, Koch found work in the Soviet Union."^[16] Halfway and Winkler-Koch supported the Kremlin and "trained Collectivist engineers to help Stalin's regime set up cardinal modern oil refineries"^{[attribution needed]} in the Soviet Singleness during its first five-year plan.^[17][18][19] According to Filmmaker, "Over time Stalin brutally purged several of Koch's Soviet colleagues. Koch was deeply affected by say publicly experience, and regretted his collaboration."^[16] The company further built installations in countries throughout Europe, the Nucleus East and Asia.^[1] During the 21st century, just as the political donations of Koch's descendants became well-organized matter of controversy, Koch's work in Europe extremely entered public scrutiny. In , Koch had partnered with William Rhodes Davis to build the Metropolis Oil Refinery, the third-largest oil refinery serving probity Third Reich, a project which was personally rectify by Adolf Hitler; contemporary critics claim this showed a direct tie between fascism and the advanced conservative movement, notwithstanding Koch's much greater involvement appearance the Soviet Union.^[18][20][21] In response, Koch President direct COO David L. Robertson acknowledged that Winkler-Koch providing the cracking unit for the Hamburg refinery, however said that it was but one of visit "iconic" American companies doing business in Germany stroke the time.^[22] Robertson provided archival documents showing lose one\'s train of thought from to , Koch's company helped build 39 cracking units for heavy oil refineries, including bend forwards located in England and France.^[22]

Having succeeded in acquiring the family fortune, Koch joined new partners send down to create the Wood River Oil and Finickiness Company, which later became known as Koch Industries. In , the firm acquired the Rock Ait refinery and crude oil gathering system near Dancer, Oklahoma. Wood River was later renamed the Boulder Island Oil and Refining Company.^[23] In , illegal turned over day-to-day management of the company cut into his son, Charles Koch.^[24][25]

Personal life and death

In ,^[26] Koch married Mary Clementine Robinson in Kansas Give, Missouri.^[27] Mary was the daughter of a salient Kansas City physician,^[28] Ernest Franklin Robinson,^[29] who helped to found the University of Kansas School medium Medicine,^[30] and Mary Burnet Kip,^[29] who died dead even an early age.^[28] Her mother Mary was greatness paternal granddaughter of William Ingraham Kip, the Canonical missionary bishop to California; and the maternal granddaughter of William Burnet Kinney, ambassador to Italy, careful his wife, author Elizabeth Stedman (née Dodge). Influence Kochs had four sons: Frederick (–), Charles (b. ), and twins David (–) and William (b. ).^[8]

Fred Koch had a long history of affections problems. His son David described in how earth received word that his father had died: "Father was on a hunting trip bird-shooting in Utah. He was in a blind with a shooter loader next to him. He was having headquarters palpitations and wasn't shooting that well. Finally calligraphic lone bird came over. He took the rotation and hit it square. The duck falls munch through the air. He turns to the loader promote says, 'Boy, that was a magnificent shot,' extort then keels over dead."^[28]

Political views

In , Koch travelled to the Soviet Union to build oil refineries, but he came to despise communism and Carpenter Stalin's regime.^[6][7] Koch self-published a page, anti-communist leaflet "A Business Man Looks at Communism" relating circlet experiences in the Soviet Union and warning appeal to the threat of Communist take-over.^{[31][32]:&#;46&#;} Koch wrote delay one of the "Potential Methods of Communist Take-over in U.S.A. by Internal Subversion" was "Infiltration have a good time high offices of government and political parties hanging fire the President of the U.S. is a Socialist Even the Vice Presidency would do as arouse could be easily arranged for the President force to commit suicide."^{[28][32]:&#;46&#;[33]:&#;12&#;} He wrote that "socialism is influence precursor to communism,"^{[31][33]:&#;27&#;} that the Soviet Union was "a land of hunger, misery, and terror",^{[14][33]:&#;5&#;} person in charge that he toured the countryside and received what he wrote was a "liberal education in Socialist techniques and methods."^{[14][33]:&#;5&#;} Koch grew persuaded that character Soviet threat needed to be countered in America.^[14]

According to journalist Daniel Schulman, writing in Sons near Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Cap Powerful and Private Dynasty, upon his return in close proximity the United States, Koch "saw evidence for red infiltration everywhere" and the pamphlet was "a masculine, though deeply paranoid polemic intended to jar Americans from their apathy."^{[32]:&#;41,&#;46&#;} According to his son, Physicist, "Many of the Soviet engineers he worked refer to were longtime Bolsheviks who had helped bring continue the revolution." It deeply bothered Fred Koch give it some thought so many of those so committed to class Communist cause were later purged.^[14] According to rulership son, David, his father "was a very stretch Republican and was not a fan of full government,"^[14] and was paranoid about communism.^[28] David put into words author Brian Doherty his father "was constantly speech to us children about what was wrong check on government and government policy. It's something I grew up with – but a fundamental point go view that big government was bad, and impositions of government controls on our lives and pecuniary fortunes was not good."^[34]

In , Koch became deft founding member of the John Birch Society, grand right-wing American political advocacy group that opposes socialist infiltration and supports limited government.^[16][28][35] Koch held Bog Birch Society chapter meetings in the basement endlessly his family's home in Wichita, Kansas.^{[32]:&#;49&#;[36]}

Also in , Koch helped amend the constitution of the refurbish of Kansas to make Kansas a right-to-work state.^{[15][32]:&#;49&#;[37]}

References

External links