What is William Koch's Net Worth?
William Koch is a billionaire businessman, sailor, and collector who has a net worth of $2 billion. William Koch was born into the wealthy Koch industrial family. As a businessman, he is the founder and president of the energy development holding company the Oxbow Group, and as a sailor he won the America's Cup in 1992. Koch's massive collection, meanwhile, includes art, wine, and maritime memorabilia.
William Koch is the son of Fred Chase Koch, the founder of Koch Industries, which is one of the most successful oil companies in United States history. Today Koch Industries is the second-largest private company in the US, behind Cargill, with annual revenues north of $100 billion. However, it should be noted that Bill no longer has a stake in Koch Industries after he and brother Fred Koch sold their stakes to brothers Charles Koch and David Koch in 1983 for a combined total of $800 million. After the sale was completed, Bill became convinced that his other brothers short-changed him and/or drastically undervalued the business as a whole in order to buy him and Fred out cheaply. Bill subsequently launched a legal battle, suing for a larger payout. Fred Koch somewhat reluctantly joined the lawsuit, which dragged on for 15 years. In the end, a jury agreed that some assets were undervalued, but not in a meaningful enough way to justify any additional payout to Fred and Bill. When it was all said and done, Bill and Fred spent far more on lawyers than what they ultimately received. The lawsuit also caused a rift that severed the family to the point where when Fred would see twin brother David at charity events decades later, they would barely say hello.
Early Life and Education
William Koch was born on May 3, 1940 in Wichita, Kansas to Mary Robinson and businessman Fred C. Koch. He had a twin brother named David and two older brothers named Charles and Frederick. Koch attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana, and then MIT. From MIT, Koch obtained bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering.
Business Career
Koch began his business career working in his family's company Koch Industries, in which he had inherited stock. However, after trying and failing to take over the company from his brother Charles in 1980, he was fired from the company. Koch went on to found the Oxbow Group, an energy development holding company based out of West Palm Beach, Florida. He also became president of the company. In 2011, Oxbow donated $750,000 to Restore Our Future, a Super PAC supporting the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney. The company later got into trouble for alleged tax avoidance.
Sailing
As a sailor and a yachtsman, Koch won the 1992 America's Cup. He sailed on the America³, a yacht built by his racing syndicate of the same name. Koch reportedly spent around $65 million on the effort, winning the Cup with a crew including veteran sailor Buddy Melges. In 1993, he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Koch returned to the America's Cup in 1995 as a financier of the yacht Mighty Mary, which consisted almost entirely of women. His team ultimately lost to Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes in the trials. For his sailing achievements, Koch was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2018.
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Collecting
Koch is noted for his huge collection of art, wine, and maritime memorabilia. Notably, he has filed several major lawsuits against sellers of counterfeit wines, including Hardy Rodenstock, Rudy Kurniawan, and Kurniawan's auction house Acker, Merrall & Condit. Koch's collection of maritime memorabilia includes antique nautical instruments and model ships, some of which he displayed in a 2005 exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He also has a substantial collection of military vehicles at his ranch in Colorado.
Activism
As co-chair of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, Koch has fought against the Cape Wind Project to stop the construction of an offshore wind farm. He has donated millions of dollars to the Alliance, and gave over $1 million to lobbyist efforts to defeat the Cape Wind Project.
Personal Life
Koch has been in several high-profile relationships, and has married and divorced multiple times. His first wife was Joan Granlund, with whom he had a son named Wyatt. Koch was married to his second wife, Angela Gauntt, from 1996 until their divorce in 2000; they had two children together. In 2005, he married Bridget Rooney, with whom he has a daughter named Kaitlin. Koch also has a daughter from his former girlfriend Marie Beard. Among his other former lovers was model and fashion journalist Catherine de Castelbajac, whom he filed a lawsuit against in 1995 to evict her from his condominium at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston after she refused to move out after their breakup. Koch ended up winning the suit.
