Charles Koch: is there a family office?

This article directly stems from the research process for our European single family office database. Our list of U.S. single family offices includes the most important family investment vehicles that invest in various areas, such as financial markets, real estate, venture capital, private equity and renewables.

Charles is the son of the founder of gas and chemical company Koch Industries, Fred Koch. As of September 2022, Koch has an estimated net worth of $53.4bn putting him in the top 20 richest people in the world. Charles has been chairman and CEO of Koch Industries since 1967 which is one of the largest private companies in the US. Charles and his late brother David own 42% of the business. In this article, we will investigate if there is a Koch family office.

Koch brothers manage wealth through Koch Industries and family office 1888 Management LLC

Charles began working for his father at Koch Industries in 1967 and became president in 1967. Charles and his brother David bought the Koch Industry shares from their two other brothers for $800m in 1983. The two brothers have invested heavily through Koch Industries’ venture arm, Koch Disruptive Technologies. In September 2022, the venture arm invested $6.5m in the Israeli software company OneLayer as well as numerous investments in Alkira and a $500m investment in software company Mavenir. Brothers Charles and David founded a family office in 1888 to manage their personal wealth and named it 1888 Management LLC. The family office is managed by Trent May and his approach is to target companies in which they can acquire a large stake. Their investments include telecommunications company X5 OpCo LLC and May reportedly is managing over $2bn for the brothers. Koch also founded the Charles Koch Foundation which aims to support social entrepreneurs through funding innovations in postsecondary education. Charles also established the Stand Together foundation which has donated over $120m to innovate nonprofit solutions to break the cycle of poverty in America.

Picture source: Crystal Kwok