Fred C. Koch

Fred C. Koch
Fred C. Koch
Born	Template:Birth date; Quanah, Texas, U.S.
Died	November 17, 1967 (aged 67)
Occupation(s)	Chemical engineer, businessman
Known for	Founder of Koch Industries

Fred Chase Koch ( ; September 23, 1900 – November 17, 1967) was an American chemical engineer and businessman who established the oil refining enterprise that eventually became Koch Industries, a private company managed by his sons Charles and David. By 2015, Forbes ranked Koch Industries as the second-largest privately held company in the United States.

Early life and education

Born in Quanah, Texas, Fred C. Koch was the son of Mattie B. (née Mixson) and Harry Koch, a Dutch immigrant who arrived in America in 1888 after working as a printer across Europe. Upon settling in the U.S., Harry acquired ownership of the Tribune-Chief newspaper. Fred attended Rice Institute from 1917 until 1919 and earned a chemical engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1922.

Business career

Koch's professional journey started at the Texas Company in Port Arthur, Texas, followed by his role as chief engineer at Medway Oil & Storage Company in Kent, England. In 1925, he partnered with MIT classmate P.C. Keith at Keith-Winkler Engineering in Wichita, Kansas; after Keith left that same year, the firm was renamed Winkler-Koch Engineering Company.

In 1927, Koch invented an improved thermal cracking method for converting crude oil into gasoline more efficiently, allowing smaller firms to compete with industry giants. This breakthrough resulted in numerous lawsuits from major companies, with Koch winning nearly all disputes.

Working alongside Lewis Winkler, formerly associated with Universal Oil Products (UOP LLC), Koch faced a patent infringement lawsuit from UOP against Winkler-Koch in 1929. Despite ongoing legal challenges limiting their sales within the U.S., Winkler-Koch secured contracts to construct petroleum distillation facilities in the Soviet Union, where intellectual property laws were not enforced.

From 1929 to 1932, Winkler-Koch played a key role in building fifteen advanced oil refineries as part of the Soviet Union's first five-year plan and trained engineers under Stalin's government. The company also completed projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. In 1934, Koch collaborated with William Rhodes Davis to develop the Hamburg Oil Refinery in Nazi Germany—then the third-largest refinery servicing the Third Reich—a venture approved by Adolf Hitler. This connection has been examined amid debates regarding the Koch family's political engagements. Leadership at Koch Industries has acknowledged this historical involvement while highlighting that many American corporations operated in Germany during that era.

In 1940, Koch joined forces with new partners to create Wood River Oil and Refining Company, which was later renamed Rock Island Oil and Refining Company before becoming Koch Industries. The enterprise purchased the Rock Island refinery along with a crude oil gathering system near Duncan, Oklahoma, in 1946. By 1966, Fred handed over daily operational control to his son Charles.

Personal life and death

Fred married Mary Clementine Robinson in Kansas City, Missouri in 1932. Mary was the daughter of Ernest Franklin Robinson—a respected Kansas City physician instrumental in founding the University of Kansas School of Medicine—and Mary Burnet Kip. The couple had four sons: Frederick (1933–2020), Charles (born 1935), and twins David (1940–2019) and William (born 1940). Fred passed away at age 67 in Utah toward the end of 1967.

Having suffered from chronic heart conditions for years, Fred died suddenly while on a hunting trip in Utah; according to his son David, he collapsed from heart failure immediately after making a successful shot.

Political views

In 1928, Koch journeyed to the Soviet Union with the purpose of constructing oil refineries, but he soon developed a strong aversion to both communism and Stalin's administration. He independently published a 39-page pamphlet titled A Business Man Looks at Communism, which drew upon his firsthand experiences in the USSR to caution against Communist dangers, including the infiltration of U.S. government institutions. He portrayed socialism as a stepping stone toward communism and depicted the Soviet Union as a place marked by "hunger, misery, and terror."

After his return to the United States, Koch became firmly convinced that communist infiltration was widespread and aimed to raise public awareness through his pamphlet. His son Charles recalled that many Soviet engineers he collaborated with were devoted Bolsheviks who were eventually eliminated during political purges. David Koch described his father as a conservative Republican who distrusted expansive government and harbored deep concerns about communism.

In 1958, Koch played a key role in founding the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to combating communist influence and promoting limited government. He regularly hosted chapter meetings at his family residence in Wichita. That same year, he contributed to amending Kansas’s constitution to designate it as a right-to-work state.

External links

Kansas Business Hall of Fame Historical Honors Award Recipient profile