Saturday, May 17, 2014

Koch Industries (and the Family) - Part 4

... So Charles Koch took over the day-to-day running of Koch Industries back in 1966.  Charles had big plans; he began to push the limit of corporate growth by returning 90% of the company's profits back into the company till and by diversifying the company to the maximum.  The profits for Koch Industries in 1966 were $100 million. Following Charles' plans, in 2008, the company's profits were $100 billion.  I have to hand it to him - he knows how to make money!
  Currently, Charles Koch and his brother David each own 42% of the company, leaving 16% to others that their father trusted.  Charles and David bought out their other two brothers, for $1.1 billion apiece.  The latest figures released by the company states they have 50,000 employees in the United States and another 20,000 employees in other countries.  This is a list of the industries that Koch has invested in: asphalt, chemicals, commodities trading, energy, fibers, fertilizers, finance, mineral rights, natural gas. oil, plastics, petroleum, pulp and paper, and ranching.  They own 4,000 miles of pipelines in the United States and Canada; they refine 800,000 barrels of crude oil daily; they buy and sell almost all of the asphalt within the US; they are among the top 50 landowners (by size of property) in the United States; and they are among the top 10 cattle producers in the US.
  What, specifically, belongs under the umbrella of Koch Industries?  
  Georgia-Pacific - if you use Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet tissue, Quilted Northern toilet tissue, Mardi Gras brand plates, napkins, cups, or utensils, Dixie plates and bowls, Sparkle paper towels, or any Vanity Fair brand paper products,  you contribute to the Koch brothers pockets.
  Invista - a fibers and polymer company; if you use anything containing Lycra, or anything treated with StainMaster, you pay the Kochs.
  Koch Pipeline Company, L P - they own over 4,000 miles of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas, asphalt and chemicals.  These pipelines run through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and through Alberta, Canada.
  Flint Hills Resources, L P (aka The Koch Petroleum Group) - this company produces gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, other aviation fuels, ethanol,polymers, chemicals, base oils, and asphalt.  They own 13 asphalt terminals in six states: Alaska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
  Koch Fertilizer, L L C - they are one of the world's largest producers of nitrogen fertilizer.  They own, or have vested interests in nitrogen fertilizer plants in the United States, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and Italy.  They own, or have vested interests, in ammonia producing facilities in Louisiana, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
  Koch Agricultural Company - they raise cattle on three ranches in three states as the Matador Cattle Company.  Their ranches are near Beaverhead, Montana; Matador, Texas; and Flint Hills, Kansas.

  Charles Koch certainly saw to the diversification of Koch Industries.
   More regarding Koch Industries, their PAC, the political groups they back, their environmental transgressions, and suggested reading still to come....
 

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