Christopher Leonard: Inside the Koch Empire

Koch Industries, a conglomerate of numerous companies owned by Charles and David Koch, is everywhere. From paper goods, wood, and textiles to fertilizers, chemicals, coal and oil, products produced by companies owned by Koch Industries are used by many on a daily basis. The Koch brand, however, does not appear on consumer products. Rather, the brothers became multibillionaires by controlling oil and gas production, paper products, derivatives trading in multiple commodities, engineering services, and much more. Now the annual revenue of Koch Industries is larger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and US Steel combined. While many know the Koch brothers from their libertarian-leaning political contributions, they are also masterful businessmen who have built an empire and shaped corporate America over the last five decades.
Journalist Christopher Leonard’s new book "Kochland; The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate America" explores how the company became the largest privately owned business in the world? Leonard also delves into how CEO Charles Koch has affected labor unions, widened the income divide and slowed progress on climate-friendly policies in the United States.
Join us for a conversation with Leonard, who has spent the last seven years investigating Koch Industries, to discuss the rise of the company, the power it has inside state legislatures and the US Congress in influencing the economy and government as well as how the Kochs might shape the future.
The author will sign books at the end of the program. A limited number will be available for purchase at the event.
SPEAKER
Christopher Leonard
Business Reporter, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and Bloomberg Businessweek.
MODERATOR
Sarah McBride
Reporter, Bloomberg.
For more information about this event please visit: www.worldaffai...
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[@kentallard8852]

Market Based Management is causing the accidents at Georgia Pacific. You cant give people a 25 page safety protocol and then simultaneously rank everyone on performance time with those ranking lowest getting fired. People will be concerned about their jobs, try to speed up, take short cuts, take risks, make mistakes, or be so distracted with worry about their job that something will blind side them.

[@kentallard8852]

It is also the source of the pollution, pipelines not being maintained, etc - its all about creating libertarian madhouse forcing people to conform to his views.

[@LuisFernandoImperator]

Christopher, I like how you, despite having a different worldview and positioning yourself that way still speaks about the subject with the utmost integrity and honesty. I disagree with you on politics, as I'm an "absolute free market" guy, but you have my respect as a journalist and as a man for being truthful about the whole Koch affair. We'd be way better off if more people were like you. Most of the press would not care about what the man really thinks and would try to create an evil caricature of a billionaire.

[@kentallard8852]

We know what Charles thinks about climate change, Lee Fang managed to button hole David Koch on the sidewalk years ago and ask him and he gave an abhorrently flippant response.

[@kentallard8852]

regarding Koch and Silicon Valley: it is very wrong they aren't doing anything there, they are working very closely with google and facebook and integrating them into their donor network to get more funding and lobbying

[@Praisethesunson]

Can we get an upload of the public Q&A?

[@Dr_Jeff888]

But how does this relate to behemoth China Inc. ?

[@loganwaller1]

absolutely nothing constructive about this conversation, appears to be a reporter that had a preconceived conception about Koch and found research to confirm his ideology...There are so many more interesting components of Koch and questions that could have been asked to illuminate the more complex components of Koch if he truly took a curious approach.

[@ivandafoe5451]

Absolutely nothing constructive about this criticism, appears to be a troll that has a paid agenda to defend Koch and found research here that threatens his sponsor and his ideology...There are so many more odious components of Koch and questions that need to be asked to illuminate the complex and dark components of Koch if he were to take an honest approach.

[@Dear_Mr._Isaiah_Deringer]

absolutely nothing constructive about this comment, appears to be a commenter that had a preconceived conception about this reporter and found research to confirm his ideology...There are so many more interesting components of this book and questions that could have been asked to illuminate the more complex components of Kochland if he truly took a curious approach.