Bill Koch (businessman)

William Ingraham Koch ( ; born May 3, 1940) is an American billionaire businessman, sailor, and collector. His boat was the winner of the America's Cup in 1992. ''Forbes'' estimated Koch's net worth at $1.8 billion in 2019, from oil and other investments.

Early life

Koch is the son of Mary Clementine (née Robinson) and Fred C. Koch, founder of Koch Industries, a business empire based on oil refining. His paternal grandfather, Harry Koch, was a Dutch immigrant, who founded the ''Quanah Tribune-Chief'' newspaper and was a founding shareholder of Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway. Among his maternal great-great-grandparents were William Ingraham Kip, an Episcopal bishop; William Burnet Kinney, a politician; and Elizabeth Clementine Stedman, a writer.

Koch attended Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana. He graduated with bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering, all from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. David Koch (1940−2019) was his twin brother. His other brothers are Frederick R. Koch (1933−2020) and Charles Koch (born 1935).

Business career

Koch worked in his family's company. He and his eldest brother Frederick R. Koch had inherited Koch Industries stock. In 1980, after an unsuccessful attempt to take over the company from Charles, William was fired from the company. In 1983 the stock netted them $800 million in a sale to their brothers, Charles and David."Koch's wife granted order of restraint". Pittsburg (KS) ''Morning Sun'', July 21, 2000.

Legal disputes against Charles and David lasted some two decades. Bill and his eldest brother, Frederick, sided with J. Howard Marshall III, J. Howard Marshall II's eldest son, against Charles and David at one point, in order to take over the company. In 2001, Koch reached a settlement where he had charged the company was taking oil from federal and Indian land. This settlement ended all litigation between the brothers."Judge Clears Koch Brothers' Settlement Pact". ''Wall Street Journal'', May 29, 2001. CBS News reported that Koch Industries settled for $25 million, and Bill received one-third of the settlement for bringing the suit.

After leaving Koch Industries, he became the founder and president of the Oxbow Group, an energy development holding company based in West Palm Beach, Florida.Schwan, Gary. "A taste of what floats collector Koch's boat". ''Palm Beach Post'', March 13, 2006. In 2011, Oxbow donated $750,000 to Restore Our Future, Inc., the " SuperPAC" supporting Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Koch was also an investor in Kendall Square Research, a short-lived supercomputer company.

Koch co-chairs the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a group formed to fight the Cape Wind project to build an offshore wind farm of 130 turbines. In 2005, Koch contributed $500,000 in donations to the alliance directly and more than $1 million toward lobbyist efforts to defeat the project.Dennehy, Kevin and David Schoetz. "State could decide fate of wind farm". ''Cape Cod Times'', April 1, 2006.Brooks, Walter. "Osterville billionaire oil man behind stealth move to stop the wind farm". ''Cape Cod Today'', March 16, 2006.

America's Cup

Koch won the America's Cup in 1992 with the yacht '' America³'', defeating the Italian challenger '' Il Moro di Venezia''. ''America 3s overall record, including trials, was 28–10. Koch reportedly spent around $65 million on his effort and though an amateur, sailed on the crew himself, assisted by veteran sailors like Buddy Melges.

In 1995, Koch financed another team to compete for the cup. This time the crew consisted entirely of women except for tactician David Dellenbaugh, on a yacht named ''Mighty Mary''. However, the boat lost to Dennis Conner's '' Stars & Stripes'' in the trials.

Koch is a supporter of the Sea Scout program of the Boy Scouts of America, biannually hosting the William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup.

Koch was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1993. Koch was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2018.

Collector

Koch is a collector of art and wine. He has filed several high-profile suits against sellers of counterfeit wines, most notably a suit against Hardy Rodenstock for the sale of wine purported to have been owned by Thomas Jefferson. Koch also sued Rudy Kurniawan and the auction house Acker, Merrall & Condit, through whom Koch purchased Kurniawan's wine. Koch filed the suit against Renee Angove in 2019 and was reported to have reached a settlement for $3 million in July 2014.

Koch's collection of maritime memorabilia includes model ships, antique nautical instruments, and paintings of ships and seascapes. A 2005 show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston featured his collections, including the ''America 3'' and the yacht it defeated, '' Il Moro di Venezia''. The show was also criticized, however, for glamorizing Koch at the expense of the museum's educational function. Koch had helped finance the show, including paying the cost to move the boats from Rhode Island. He previously owned the former French Class America F1 - IACC F1 renamed later USA-2.

The boats were in Rhode Island because Koch had placed them with a small maritime museum there. Despite the considerable expense of building them, he said "they have absolutely no value" once their racing life is over.Walker, Sam. "On Sports: Sailing's Edsels". ''Wall Street Journal'', February 14, 2003. Koch, a native of Wichita, Kansas, donated the yacht he used in qualifying for the America's Cup races, ''Jayhawk'', to the Wichita Boathouse. He also supplied money for the city to use in repairing the yacht.

In June 2011, he purchased a 130-year-old photo of the legendary outlaw Billy the Kid for the amount of $2.3 million at a Denver auction.

At his Colorado ranch, Koch has a collection of military vehicles, including a M42 Duster antiaircraft gun.

Activism

Koch donated "about $5 million" to Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. Its goal is to prevent the construction of Cape Wind, a wind power project located in Nantucket Sound, near Koch's Cape Cod house.

Koch gave $2 million to Restore Our Future, a PAC created to support 2012 Republican Party Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Personal life

In 1984, Koch married Joan Granlund, with whom he had a son, Wyatt. The marriage ended in divorce.

In 1995, he filed a lawsuit against his former lover, Catherine de Castelbajac, to evict her from his $2.5 million condominium at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston. He said he had allowed her to move in the previous year so she could attend Simmons College, as he seldom used the apartment. When he tried to end the relationship, de Castelbajac refused to move out and claimed he had broken his promises to her. A jury ruled in Koch's favor after a trial that was noted for its disclosure of torrid letters and faxes between the two.Mehren, Elizabeth
"A Steamy Romance Gets Frosty in Court"
''Los Angeles Times'', November 28, 1995.

In 2005, Koch married Bridget Rooney (b. 1962) at a ceremony in Colorado. The couple has one daughter, Kaitlin. Bridget Rooney Koch is the granddaughter of the original owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football franchise, Art Rooney (1901–1988). The Kochs are part-time residents of Palm Beach, Florida.

In September 2021 Koch was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution under Patriot William Burnett (b. 1730 d. 1791) who served as Surgeon General, Chief Physician of the Army's Eastern Department and of the hospital in New Jersey as well as a New Jersey Delegate to the First Continental Congress.

References

External links

Bill Koch interview



Oxbow Group website

William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Bill
1940 births
Living people
People from Wichita, Kansas
American businesspeople in the oil industry
1992 America's Cup sailors
American billionaires
Bill Koch
American chief executives
MIT School of Engineering alumni
American people of Dutch descent
Kansas Republicans
Massachusetts Republicans
MIT Engineers men's basketball players
American twins
American men's basketball players
Culver Academies alumni