Koch Brothers Wealth: Historical Net Worth 1984-2012

Being the researcher that I am I was curious to know what the Koch brother’s net worth has been historically. Through some painstaking research via library databases (NewsBank, Forbes, and USA Today) I found the net worth of both Charles and David Koch dating back to 1984. The chart shows the net worth of each Charles and David Koch individually and not there combined net worth. The scale is in billions. Since they own the same percentage of Koch Industries their net worth is equal every year.

The growth in net worth is astonishing. In 1984, the net worth was only $375 million each. Brothers William and Frederick also had the same net worth as well. However, over time David and Charles seemed to increase their net worth at a faster rate than their brothers. The last year I could find for both William and Fredrick Koch was 1990 when William was worth $650 million and Frederick was worth $500 million. William didn’t appear back on the charts until 2007 when his net worth was $2 billion (his net worth is around $4 billion these days). What is interesting is that William actually worked for Koch Industries from 1968-1980 and was fired. William went to go on to start his own company The Oxbow Group in 1983 and this is what helped him become wealthy. Frederick on the other hand likes to buy castles, villas, and estates which doesn’t seem like a cheap hobby.

There is no doubt that Charles and David have been superstars with increasing their net worth. On a compound annual rate the Koch brothers have increased their net worth at a rate of close to 17% per year which would outperform the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Average. What is interesting however is the standard deviation or risk of their net worth is 44%. People often talk about how well off the rich are. However, the only way they can get that way is by taking risk. In fact, I would argue they have to take above average risk in order to the place they are.  The Koch’s have a substantial part of their net worth within Koch Industries which leaves little room for diversification. On the spending side the Koch’s don’t really seem to spend that much personally.  David Koch did own a Ferrari in the late 1980’s according to this article. The Koch brothers have supported their own charitable foundations which primarily try to spread free markets and the message of limited government.

Personally, I hope the Koch brothers reach 1 and 2 on the Forbes list. Given Charles Koch is 76 and his brother David is 72 it can be said that the Koch brothers are getting up there in age. Hopefully they will continue to live a long time to continue to spread the ideas of free markets and liberty and also serve their fellow man to increase their net worth.