William Koch
Palm Beach, Florida
Bachelor of Arts/Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Doctorate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
3
oil, investments
$1,700,000,000
1281
#1281 Billionaires 2019
#307 Forbes 400 2015
William Koch, brother of Koch Industries owners Charles and David Koch, is the founder of petroleum coke and sulphur products company Oxbow Corp.The Kansas native formed his own company after selling his stake in Koch Industries to his brothers Charles and David for $470 million in 1983. He battled his brothers for more than a decade over the payout amount, but eventually lost the case.William's brother Frederick also sold his stake in Koch Industries to Charles and David in 1983.Koch Industries was started in 1940 by William Koch's father, Fred Koch, who improved a method of refining heavy oil into gasoline.
William is David Koch's fraternal twin; the twins went to MIT together and played on the same basketball team. The thrice married industrialist built a private Wild West-style town in Colorado, complete with saloons, a jail house and a train station.
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