Surgery Center of Oklahoma: First and Only Free Market Hospital in America

I saw this recent video about the Surgery Center of Oklahoma which may be in fact the only free market hospital in America if not the world. I blogged about the hospital in this post.  What is interesting is that the hospital actually posts prices for surgeries. What I found interesting was the hospital also published infection rates which I don’t see regular hospitals do. In the investment industry fund managers post data like risk, return, and other important data. Why don’t hospitals, physicians and surgeons do the same? As long as the insurance company is picking up the bill do patients really have that much incentive to care? By the way the Surgery Center of Oklahoma has a lower infection rate of a mere .001% which is much lower than the national average of 2.6%. Hospitals hire administers which can be in the six figure range and really just handle paperwork. I am amazed when I go to a doctor why they ask me the same questions (even after I have been to the same doctor for years). Never mind the fact that there is a staff just talking to insurance companies and filling out paperwork. Is this really making us better off? I would say no. Healthcare is not run like a business. What we need is more hospitals like Surgery Center of Oklahoma which don’t take insurance and inform patients of what the prices are. If you had more hospitals like this they would have to compete not only on price but also quality as well. This would be great for patients and lead to some advancements as doctors would try new things to improve care and reduce the risk for the patient. I notice we don’t need an Affordable Food Care Act, Affordable Computer Care Act, or Affordable Video Game Act. Food, computers, and video games operate in a free market where competition increases quality and lowers prices. Healthcare is not a free market by any means. Can you think of any think the government provides that is of higher quality and cheaper than the private sector? Economist Dr. Walter E. Williams summed it up with his own Williams’ law which states: whenever the profit incentive is missing, the probability that people’s wants can be safely ignored is the greatest.

H/T- Carpe Diem

Bill Koch Counterfeit Wine, Sailing, and Book

Bill Koch apparently keeps himself in the news. On Friday November 9, 2012 Inside Edition aired a story that actually featured Koch discussing counterfeit wine as I mentioned in this post. Koch told Inside Edition that he has spent over $4.6 million on fake wine. Even Koch admits that there will not be much sympathy for a billionaire.

In other news Bill Koch has also contributed $500,000 for a sailing exhibition at San Diego Halls of Champions in San Diego (it has been around 20 years since this happened). The exhibition will be available to the public. I have actually started a book about Bill Koch called “To The Third Power”. I have started the book and learned even more about Bill Koch then I did before. For instance Bill Koch graduated in the top 10% at M.I.T.. The book is really about how Koch guided his team to win the American Cup in 1992. I would point out that it was not a cheap one but it seems so far there are some lessons to be learned from a management perspective. I continue to learn more about Bill Koch and find him a very interesting character.

Newsmax: David Koch Speaks

I saw a preview of a profile David Koch did for the November 2012 edition of Newsmax magazine. As you know I have extensively probably more than any other blogger out there covered David Koch has given up to August 2012 $305 million to charity, how he endorses gay marriage, an analysis of David and Charles Koch net worth from 1984-2012 here, and even covered his dating here. Regardless of what your political affiliation is David Koch is truly an interesting person.

The article itself offers a pretty good interview with David Koch. I have read so much about David Koch and the Koch family nothing really is that new (however I did learn even in this article). The first is David Koch denies starting the tea party which is true since it was actually started by Rick Santelli after this famous rant here on CNBC. He also points out that inflation will soon come as the Treasury department with their quantitative easing program (QEinifity). What I probably found most interesting was the work life of David Koch. He wakes up at 7:30 A.M. eating his cereal and yogurt, then makes sure his kids get off to school and is taken to work and is in by 9 A.M.  Many people may believe David Koch doesn’t work hard however he stays until 7 P.M. before leaving to go home to see his wife and 3 kids (David Jr. Mary, Julia, and John Mark) and has a personal chef cook. Speaking of food Koch tips 15% when he goes out to eat which contradicts this foolish article from Bloomberg claiming he was the worst tipper at 740 Park Avenue. Although, he did give all the door men a $50 Christmas bonus (Park Avenue: Money, Power, and the American Dream is unfortunately  airing on November 12 on PBS and I have a feeling I am forecasting nausea in the near distant future after simply looking at the trailer).

Some other cool things about David Koch is that he charters a yacht on the French Riviera and some Greek Islands. Koch enjoys reading about the Founding Fathers and watching sports and documentaries. Another interesting fact I learned is that he doesn’t use the internet. From a Market-Based Management prospective I wonder if he could add value by having e-mail? Growing up David along with his other brothers had to do ranch work. Hard to believe now but David did actually work on a farm ranch driving bulldozers, operating hay bailers, fixed farm equipment, and dug ditches. When he asked his father for a quarter to buy a candy bar his father Fred Koch said he wanted his sons to “appreciate what money meant”, meaning the Koch brothers had to actually work for it.

David Koch runs an interesting group at Koch Industries known as the Koch Membrane Systems group. I blogged about Koch Membrane here.  Basically the company can turn salt water into drinkable water or water used for commercial purposes. The technology seems pretty cool and David has been interested in the technology since his days at MIT. Just about every week Koch flies to Boston and spends two days working at Koch Membrane. David finds the technology interesting and many opportunities available in the industry.

David Koch is also for same-sex marriages (people forget he did run as a libertarian candidate). On Obama Koch calls him, “charming” yet rightfully criticizes the President for attacking businesses who actually do create jobs. Koch would like to bring spending down to 19% (from 25% at present day). What is interesting is that Koch supports a tax increase if it is necessary to win support from Democrats to vote Republican however, Koch would want spending cuts to be five times greater than any tax increase.

The article is interesting and good for someone who does not know much about David Koch. I have said many times on this blog he is an interesting, caring, and generous individual. I really wish he would publish an autobiography since he is truly fascinating no matter what side of the political spectrum you are on.

David Koch 2011 Hope Funds Fundraiser for Cancer Research

People forget in the 1990's David Koch suffered from prostate cancer and still deals with it to this day. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to support places like M.D. Anderson Center in Houston, John Hopkins, and a $100 million facility at MIT to promote cancer research. Too bad you will never see this kind of video on MSNBC...

TCU Acceptance Rate 1979-2012

I updated the data from the TCU Fact Book for 2012. Looks like TCU is still being selective (which is a good thing. The acceptance rate went up slightly from 2011 but still near all time lows at just less than 41% of students that apply get into TCU. When I was a freshman I can still remember TCU beating OU in 2005 who was then ranked 5th in the country if I remember correctly. Since then TCU I believe has become more popular. However, I would rather TCU be a strong academic power then just "popular". Maybe soon TCU will be the Northwestern of Texas (same school colors)

William I. Koch vs. Koch Industries The Family Lawsuit

I found an interesting find in the William I. Koch vs. Koch Industries trial that I covered in a previous three part series (part1, part2, part3). The document I found was 112 pages (much of it talks about historical court cases). What is even more interesting that the court case had 10,000 pages of exhibits (which would be twelve feet in a library).

William and Fred Koch along with other plaintiff dissents) owned 47.8% of Koch Industries stock. Fred Koch (father of all Koch brothers) set up trusts in 1966 and 1967 which gave all of his shares to his sons except for Frederick (some speculate it was because Frederick stole petty cash from the family). The trusts were actually interesting because the income of the trusts was paid to charity for 20 years and t he principal would be paid either to the Koch brothers or to some beneficiaries. Today, these are known as Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts (CRAT trust) which is creative today and must have been innovative back then. According to the court case Charles began working at Koch in 1961 and became an officer one year later and was elected president in 1966. David came on board in 1970 with William joining in 1974 (three years after he completed his PhD from M.I.T.) William rose to become head of Koch Carbon in 1976 and was elected vice president of corporate development for Koch Industries in 1979.

In March 1980 William wanted more liquidity and cash flow for Koch Industries. Charles came up with an estate planning and liquidity program while Don Cordes and Tom Carey of Koch Industries talked to the plaintiffs to help them with any issues or concerns they had.  In the mean time William Koch didn’t like how Charles was running the company and talked to the plaintiffs. William talked to the plaintiffs to try to change the board of directors to do what they wanted.  The deal breaker would be J. Howard Marshall III who would help William, Frederick, and the other plaintiffs to gain a majority interest (over 50%).  Marshall III owned 4%. William however knew he had a problem because he didn’t have the number of shares he needed to elect a new board of directors. To fix this William called the First National Bank of Wichita and wanted to add two new directors. Charles hopped on a plane to see Marshall II to see if anything could be done. According to J. Howard Marshall II autobiography “Done In Oil” Charles went to visit Marshall II and Charles asked “What do we do now?” J. Howard Marshall II who himself was a business man after spending many years in government agencies suggested that he would offer his son $8 million $203 per share for the Koch stock that would change the board. Marshall tried to make it more of an emotional offer and his son took it. William got wind of this and increased the offer price to J. Howard III.

At a December 5, 1980 meeting Stuart Varner who was a board member of Koch Industries suggested that William Koch be asked to resign. William didn’t want to however the board thought it was time for him to go. In 1981 William hired Davis, Polk, and Wardwell to represent him and Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers were also brought on to determine what if Koch Industries should be publicly traded to fix the problem of liquidity and cash flow that William had been complaining about.  In a May 18, 1981 meeting the estimates from Morgan Stanley and Lehman said Koch Industries could sell between $140-$170 per share. Charles thought some of these figures were high because they did not take into account working capital. Both Morgan Stanley and Lehman said Koch Industries should not go public unless it needed to.

In 1982 Goldman Sachs was brought in and examined 100 pages of evidence from Koch Industries analyzing historical earnings balance sheets from 1977-1982. Goldman came up with a value of $1.6-$2.2 billion and valued the stock between $110 and $140 per share. William did not like this number and questioned Goldman Sachs about whether they were doing analyzing their discounted cash flows models correctly (used to figure out value). William then brought in Bain & Co. (keep bringing in advisors until you get the number you want right?).  Lehman revalued the shares in July 1982 and came up with an average of $175 per share.  On July 26, 1982 this profile came out in Fortune that discussed part of the battle that had been going on at Koch Industries. By October 1982 the case was even affecting mother Mary Koch who called Don Cordes and was upset that the Koch brothers were not able to solve their issues in court. By November  of 1982 Bain had come up with $187 per share while William and Bain wanted to make a counter-offer of $240 per share or a 28% premium. The plaintiffs all got together and met with Goldman Sachs and Bain & Co and agreed on the $240 per share counter offer. Koch Industries however did not think $240 per share made any sense after Lehman said it was really worth $140 per share. Koch countered with $167 per share ($95 in cash and $72 over a 15 year period at 10% interest). The plaintiffs did not want this because when you calculate a present value it was very low compared to what they thought they could get. William thought the stock was worth $212-$245 per share. In May 1983 William gathered up the plaintiffs to discuss what they all thought a fair price was. William of course wanted more than everyone else and the group also had to determine the cost of waiting out the ligation.

Finally at midnight on June 4, 1983 the final draft had been approved by both sides with the deal closed only six days later.  The plaintiffs were paid $200 per share on June 10, 1983 (the legal cost for “experts” was over $1.5 million). Charles, David, and William at the time each around 20% of the common stock (Fredrick owned 14%). The Simmons family (Mariorie Simmons Gray, Ann Alspaugh, and others) owned 13% and J. Howard Marshall II owned 8% (the one who married Anna-Nicole Smith). Koch employees and other people owned just 4%.  

Not only did the plaintiffs get a $200 share price but they got part of an offshore exploration property. This was however short lived as Bill Koch believed that brothers Charles and David Koch had cheated them out of money.  On December 31, 1982 the book value of Koch Industries was $1.54 billion (meaning what the worth of just its assets). The company in 1982 earned after tax earned $309 million. The company had a book value of just $133 per share.

This whole share price war reminds me of the classic book “Barbarians at the Gate” which discusses the merger between Nabisco and R.J. Reynolds with investment bankers coming up with higher and higher offers but made crazy assumptions. The Koch trial seems to be similar. Koch Industries told William Koch what the company was worth but William wanted a higher price. He kept hiring advisors to tell him his higher number was right. However, in the end I think William Koch made out pretty well.  When the whole thing was said and done Bill walked away with a $500 million check. William is now worth $4 billion. Not too shabby if you ask me. 

Charles Koch Relentless Goals: Being a Billionaire, Death Threats, and Giving Back

Source: Wichita Eagle

Apparently, the Wichita Eagle gave me an early Christmas present with this recent profile of Charles Koch. In 1998, Bob Cox of the Wichita Eagle did an in depth profile similar to this one.  The Koch family seems like one interesting family with David, Charles, and Bill. This profile shed light on who Charles Koch really is.

In the article it discusses how Charles Koch gets his hair cut from his wife (even though he is worth $31 billion and historical net worth 1984-2012 here) because he doesn't have time to go to the barber. Koch also use to be an avid skier until his knees gave out and has had both knees replaced and his right shoulder. This was after years of playing tennis, squash, golf, and polo.  These days he works out for an hour and a half doing weighting lifting, Pilates, and aerobics and follows a strict diet. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999. Koch is very competitive. When he played tennis with his friends and wife he hit the ball so hard that it hit the woman in the lip causing his wife Liz to curse him out.

His wife Liz has been at his side for their 44 years of marriage (which seems rare these days). She claims she is only one in the relationship that let her hair grow out.What is funny though is that when Liz first met Charles he wore a strip shirt and madras (picnic shorts). Liz also put up with Charles having books all over their apartment when they were first married when Charles was teaching himself about different subjects (economics, psychology, history) in the 1960's that Liz didn't even have a closet for her clothes. Even brother David Koch admits Charles reads "like a demon".

Charles was also competitive in the business world as well. Right before he joined his father’s company it had $70 million in annual revenue in 1960. In 2012, this number increased to $116 billion. Koch is a hard working man who is always working. His father Fred yelled at him when he was trying to save money for estate taxes (estate taxes have to be paid 9 months after death which makes it hard if your assets are all tied up in company stock). Charles bought two trucker companies (instead of one) and his father was furious with him. I personally think Koch is a workaholic however I think one of the side effects is becoming a billionaire. He also doesn’t like wasting time as he listens to audio books in his car because why waste 10 minutes of time. He doesn’t seem to work for money.  Charles Koch wakes up every morning to do what he loves doing: running a business. He doesn’t plan to retire and probably will work until he dies.

Growing up in the Koch family wasn’t easy either. The tennis gene must of rubbed off on his son Chase Koch because he appeared in Sports Illustrated under “Faces in the Crowd” in 1996 for a stellar tennis record. Just three years earlier Chase hit and killed someone in an accident. People make mistakes no question and growing up with Charles Koch probably wasn't easy as at 13 years old Chase had to go out and do work on the cattle feedlot in western Kansas. Charles said he thought his son believed he would have a full time job and be able to go out with his friends as night in Kansas. Chase worked 12 to 13 hour days 7 days a week as well. Charles when he first started work at Koch worked 7 days a week too. Charles preached family values and economics to his kids. Every Sunday afternoon Charles would teach his kids about economics. Chase would go to sleep while daughter Elizabeth would act interested. Chase who is not 35 now Vice President of Koch Agronomics Services. Elizabeth graduated from Princeton in 1999 is 36 years old with a degree in English literature and an MFA from Syracuse in 2011 and now works at Black Balloon Publishing in New York. The Koch kids seem to be good people or done anything crazy that has got in the press.

What truly is crazy is that the Koch family gets hundreds of death threats from wackos all the time. Not only this but Koch Industries has received cyber threats, bomb threats, and employees have also been threatened to. The family has a result has to hire security guards around the clock to protect themselves (tax increase I would point out). This seems pretty crazy for guys that just want to spread the good word of liberty, limited government, and prosperity. Speaking of prosperity Charles points out that "even those who live in poverty, have more money and opportunity for jobs if they live in a free-market economy rather than one controlled by dictators".

I consider Charles Koch to be a great American. Greatly expanding a business his father started into a $115 billion per year is not easy. In addition to creating jobs, improving the economic condition of his own 60,000 employees he is trying to spread the message that free markets actually do improve the life of everyone (even  poor people). I personally don't think Charles Koch is motivated by money. He is motivated to do the right thing by explaining not only how he was successful but how other people can be successful. In addition to all of this, he and his brother David have given $46 million to local Kansas charities and $1 billion in the last 12 years to various causes. If after reading this you don't have any respect for Mr. Koch you probably don't have any decency. 

Kochs’ Quest To Save America

Source: Wichita Eagle

It seems as if more information came out about the Koch brothers over the weekend. The Wichita Eagle published this article on October 11, 2012. On the Wichita Eagle website (Kansas.com) it said that this was an exclusive and only part 1 of an extensive interview. I am hoping for more articles out of this of course. As you may know I have been interesting in the Koch family for quite some time and did a historical net worth of Charles and David here, a Koch family history, the $1.3 billion lawsuit between all the Koch brothers,  growth in the 1990’s,  as well as current growth, even David Koch dating.

There was not only the original article that came out but also some photo galleries that can be seen here and here. Some separate articles are quotes from Charles Koch, David Koch, and Dr. Richard Fink (executive Vice President of Koch Industries). Growing up the Koch family had a strict dinner policy. At 6:30 a big bell would ring and they had to come into the house and sit down with parents. David admits he was scared when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the 1990’s. He actually believed he wouldn't be around very long. His prostate cancer is under control and David has generously funded causes to help find a cure for prostate cancer as he donated $25 million to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. As part of his legacy David wants people to know he tried his best to make the world a better place and improve the lives of others.

What we learn in all this recent news is how the Koch brothers have been personally targeted by the Obama administration for using their first amendment rights to speak out against the administration. Wichita Eagle mentioned the death threats in this article. Not only has Charles and David Koch (David said he got 100 creditable death threats) been getting death threats but employees as well. Of course these death threats are from deranged people who don’t actually have all the facts and watch MSNBC all day, read Media Matters online, and listen to fools like Ed Schultz on the radio. I haven’t even heard of President Obama getting death threats and you would think that would be likely with all these so called “racists” out there. At any rate, the death threats on the Koch family have caused them to hire more security for them and their family (tax increase of course).  The article mentions how Austan Goolsbee (Obama’s chief economic adviser claimed Koch Industries was not paying their taxes (which is actually a crime under federal law to disclose confidential tax information). Stephanie Cutter Obama’s chief campaign manager claimed she “was going to call their BS”. Apparently, Ms. Cutter has not seen a video where Koch Industries calls Cutter on her BS here. This video talks about the falsehoods associated in a Bloomberg article that discussed the dealing Koch had in Iran. In May 2012 David Axelrod called the Koch brothers “contract killers”.

Also it is learned that Dr. Richard Fink told the Koch brothers in January 2009 around the same time when President Barack Obama was sworn into office that there would be a price to pay for taking on the president. One of the risks might be to put Koch Industries at risk as well as the family legacy. The government does have the power to do much harm to Koch Industries as it can “randomly” audit the company, refuse permits, or treat them in a way that would not be business friendly. David Koch talks about how we will have inflation by buying bonds to finance debt.  This has forced interest rates to very low rates and as Charles points out really doesn't help the people who save money (Koch praised John Allison’s new book on the financial crisis which I am currently reading). Fink points out that the interest alone due to China by 2025 will be enough money to fund China’s military budget.

Another interesting point that people forget is that Charles and David Koch are more libertarians than anyone thinks. Charles even admits that if Democrats supported free markets and limited government they would donate to them (it just so happens that the people who endorse free markets are Republicans). They support people who want limited government, strong property rights, and people who want everyone to prosper. Both Republicans and Democrats have failed this test and Charles points out that even under Romney the country will just decline as a slower rate compared to Obama.  Although people claim that the Koch brothers want more deregulation to make more money this is a foolish statement. If markets are deregulated allowing more competitors into the same businesses as Koch how does that benefit them if they would face even greater competition? It is actually against their self interests to want more competitive markets. However, the Koch brothers rise to higher morals and want a system that makes the world a better place for everyone.

Dr. Richard Fink was looking to fund a free-market organization and went to Koch (after buying a $1,200 plane ticket to Wichita). Fink wore a polyester based suit and made a presentation to Charles in 1977 in search of seed funding of $150,000. Charles admits the fact that Fink wore a polyester suit helped (petroleum based which Koch has businesses in). Then there were the invitation only economic seminars which the first one in Chicago with only 17 people having nonstop lectures (people couldn't even taken bathroom breaks).

Clearly, the Koch brothers have benefited society through their charities (they donate to the arts, medical institutions, and schools). In addition creating a business that now has 60,000 employees they create products that people use every day (toilet paper, Dixie paper cups, along with blended gasoline). David Koch’s technology group is even making water cleaner to drink. I really admire them for their success in not only running a business but promoting an economic system that really would lift people out of poverty and increase the standard of living for everyone. To the Koch brothers I tip my hat to both of you. 

Bill Koch Holds Kirby Martensen (Oxbow Employee) Captive?

Today, I just learned of this bizarre news story from Oxbow Energy (especially for a Friday afternoon). Oxbow says it began a year long initiation beginning in March of 2011 to investigate whether a certain executive was trying to defraud the company of $40 million. Oxbow claimed an employee named Kirby Martensen was getting kick backs.  Martensen who worked for Oxbow Corporation for 16 years relieved millions in compensation and bonuses. As you may know I have covered Bill Koch in numerous places in his profile here, his school days, and the $1.3 billion family lawsuit with Charles and David Koch.

In this news story it is alleged that Kirby Martensen who was an executive for Oxbow Energy was held captive by Bill Koch. Martensen was promoted to be the senior vice president of Asia. Interestingly more than 75% of Oxbow's fuel grade petroleum exports profits come from just the Asia operations. Martensen is claiming that Oxbow was trying to relocate part of the company in order to evade $200 million in taxes.What is interesting however and maybe something Bill Koch can use in his defense is the fact that Martensen himself was alleged to self dealing, stealing, and breaching a fiduciary duty. Koch did a review of thousands and found Martensen was worried about if Oxbow was actually doing things that were legal.

Martensen claims that Koch tried to discredit him and used "false pretenses". The story gets a little stranger when Koch drove Martensen to Bear Ranch for the night and had breakfast the following morning. Koch showed Martensen around his private city. Martensen was then interviewed for his peer review and which lasted several hours and seems was a meeting to tell him he was going to be terminated. After this he was escorted to pack up his stuff and a sheriff wasthere to escort him out. After this the story gets bizarre as Martensen claims he was kidnapped and taken to the Denver airport for a 2 in the morning flight on March 23, 2012 on a private plan that went from Denver to Oakland, California. Martensen then basically left refusing to go to the Marriot Courtyard Hotel. In this whole process Martensen claims he suffered from anxiety, fear, humiliation, and distress.The official charges are false imprisonment and civil conspiracy. Martensen has already hired John Houston Scott (because three names just makes you sound smart) from San Francisco to defend him.

Bill Koch has a history of losing court cases. He lost the $1.3 billion case against his brothers. He lost the case against the wine he claimed was counterfeit wine. Last year he was in a lawsuit for real estate having to do with his private school. I haven't even touched the numerous lawsuits he has got into with his love life. In general Koch is on the wrong side of the lawsuit however the accusations made seem like something out of a John Grisham novel and the truth remains to be seen. A book could probably just be written on Bill Koch's court decisions. No question though Bill Koch is an interesting man and which is why I continue to blog about him.

William Koch: Culver, MIT, and Other School Days

After making the comment that William Koch had learned nothing after 13 years and getting three degrees from MIT including a PhD in chemical engineering I did some research to learn more about his school days.  I found this profile from his high school Culver Military Academy where he graduated in 1958. It should be pointed out that Charles Koch also went to Culver Military Academy but was expelled after drinking on a train. Even though students go to places like Culver before college it has more of a college schedule with Wednesday being the busiest day with activities from 8:20 a.m. to 11 p.m. There is no surprise that 99% of the graduates matriculate into colleges.  It is interesting the classes are ranked by how much time it takes students on homework. So for example a Level A class will take less than 30 minutes in homework per class while a Level E class will take more than 90 minutes per class of homework.

William seemed pretty busy when he as at Culver. He was on cross country, basketball, track, football, baseball, boxing, volleyball, softball, and graduated cum laude. According to the June 1994 edition of Vanity Fair from an article called Wild Bill Koch’s Grand Desires by Bryan Burrough, William as a kid was “nerdy, awkward kid”. He also like to start mischief when he was six he swallowed a hog ring which lead to a hospital visit where they had to pump it out. He was also competitive and didn’t like to lose. The Koch family had a pool growing up and William got upset pretty easily and sometimes would go crazy. In one instance his twin brother David Koch was hit with a polo mallet and David fought back. In a very dangerous fight William got a butcher knife but finally put it down after he realized he could kill his own twin brother. During middle school at the age of 13 Bill almost failed out (interesting for someone who later got a PhD in chemical engineering) and says he was clinically depressed. William went to M.I.T. like his older brother Charles and all joined Beta Theta Phi, where William was the house “humorist”. William was also a pretty decent athlete making the basketball team at M.I.T. his freshman year. Twins David and Bill both got their master’s degrees in chemical engineering by 1963 however they both took different paths. David went to go out in the real work and work while William spent the next eight years at M.I.T. getting his PhD. David claims his twin brother William had a country club attitude when it came to school, and just “lazy years, full of days tinkering in university labs, playing rugby, and chasing women”. Perhaps spending a total of 13 years in school was a way for William to avoid having to work in the real world which makes his comment about never really learning anything even more interesting.

As people say it really isn’t where you start out in life it where you end up. William Koch seems like he has gone through many different things in his life time (depression, various lawsuits, and marriages). However, today he is waking up everyday going to work in charge of Oxbow Corporation and worth $4 billion. If you read he was on the verge of flunking out of middle school you might not have guessed he would have been a billionaire or ever got a PhD.