Kochland : the secret history of Koch Industries and corporate power in America

Intro; Dedication; Preface: The Fighter; Part 1: The Koch Method; Chapter 1: Under Surveillance; Chapter 2: The Age of Volatility Begins; Chapter 3: The War for Pine Bend; Chapter 4: The Age of Volatility Intensifies; Chapter 5: The War for Koch Industries; Chapter 6: Koch University; Chapter 7: The Enemies Circle; Chapter 8: The Secret Brotherhood of Process Owners; Chapter 9: Off the Rails; Chapter 10: The Failure; Part 2: The Black Box Economy; Chapter 11: Rise of the Texans; Chapter 12: Information Asymmetries; Chapter 13: Attack of the Killer Electrons!;Leonard uses the extraordinary account of how the biggest private company in the world grew to be that large to tell the story of modern corporate America. The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and U.S. Steel combined Uses The Extraordinary Account Of How The Biggest Private Company In The World Grew To Be That Big To Tell The Story Of Modern Corporate America. The Annual Revenue Of Koch Industries Is Bigger Than That Of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, And U.s. Steel Combined. Koch Is Everywhere: From The Fertilizers That Make Our Food To The Chemicals That Make Our Pipes To The Synthetics That Make Our Carpets And Diapers To The Wall Street Trading In All These Commodities. But Few People Know Much About Koch Industries And That's Because The Billionaire Koch Brothers Want It That Way. For Five Decades, Ceo Charles Koch Has Kept Koch Industries Quietly Operating In Deepest Secrecy, With A View Toward Very, Very Long-term Profits. He's A Genius Businessman: Patient With Earnings, Able To Learn From His Mistakes, Determined That His Employees Develop A Reverence For Free-market Ruthlessness, And A Master Disrupter. These Strategies Have Made Him And His Brother David Together Richer Than Bill Gates. But There's Another Side To This Story. If You Want To Understand How We Killed The Unions In This Country, How We Widened The Income Divide, Stalled Progress On Climate Change, And How Our Corporations Bought The Influence Industry, All You Have To Do Is Read This Book. Seven Years In The Making, Kochland Reads Like A True-life Thriller, With Larger-than-life Characters Driving The Battles On Every Page. The Book Tells The Ambitious Tale Of How One Private Company Consolidated Power Over Half A Century--and How In Doing So, It Helped Transform Capitalism Into Something That Feels Deeply Alienating To Many Americans Today. Preface: The Fighter -- Part 1: The Koch Method. Under Surveillance ; The Age Of Volatility Begins; The War For Pine Bend ; The Age Of Volatility Intensifies ; The War For Koch Industries ; Koch University ; The Enemies Circle ; The Secret Brotherhood Of Process Owners ; Off The Rails ; The Failure -- Part 2: The Black Box Economy. Rise Of The Texans ; Information Asymmetries ; Attack Of The Killer Electrons! ; Trading The Real World ; Seizing Georgia-pacific ; The Dawn Of The Labor Management System ; The Crash -- Part 3: Goliath. Solidarity ; Warming ; Hotter ; The War For America's Btus ; The Education Of Chase Koch ; Make The Ibu Great Again ; Burning ; Control -- Appendix: Alphabetical Directory Of Significant Characters In Kochland. Christopher Leonard. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 593-660) And Index. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 * WINNER OF THE J ANTHONY LUKAS WORK-IN-PROGRESS AWARD * FINANCIAL TIMES' BEST BOOKS OF 2019 * NPR FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019 * FINALIST FOR THE FINACIAL TIMES/MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF 2019 * KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOKS OF 2019 * SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOKS OF 2019 "Superb...Among the best books ever written about an American corporation." — Bryan Burrough, The New York Times Book Review Just as Steve Coll told the story of globalization through ExxonMobil and Andrew Ross Sorkin told the story of Wall Street excess through Too Big to Fail , Christopher Leonard's Kochland uses the extraordinary account of how one of the biggest private companies in the world grew to be that big to tell the story of modern corporate America. The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and US Steel combined. Koch is everywhere: from the fertilizers that make our food to the chemicals that make our pipes to the synthetics that make our carpets and diapers to the Wall Street trading in all these commodities. But few people know much about Koch Industries and that's because the billionaire Koch brothers have wanted it that way. For five decades, CEO Charles Koch has kept Koch Industries quietly operating in deepest secrecy, with a view toward very, very long-term profits. He's a genius businessman: patient with earnings, able to learn from his mistakes, determined that his employees develop a reverence for free-market ruthlessness, and a master disrupter. These strategies made him and his brother David together richer than Bill Gates. But there's another side to this story. If you want to understand how we killed the unions in this country, how we widened the income divide, stalled progress on climate change, and how our corporations bought the influence industry, all you have to do is read this book. Seven years in the making, Kochland "is a dazzling feat of investigative reporting and epic narrative writing, a tour de force that takes the reader deep inside the rise of a vastly powerful family corporation that has come to influence American workers, markets, elections, and the very ideas debated in our public square. Leonard's work is fair and meticulous, even as it reveals the Kochs as industrial Citizens Kane of our time" (Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Private Empire ). Just as Steve Coll told the story of globalization through ExxonMobil and Andrew Ross Sorkin told the story of Wall Street excess through Too Big to Fail , Christopher Leonard's Kochland uses the extraordinary account of how the biggest private company in the world grew to be that big to tell the story of modern corporate America. The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and U.S. Steel combined. Koch is everywhere: from the fertilizers that make our food to the chemicals that make our pipes to the synthetics that make our carpets and diapers to the Wall Street trading in all these commodities. But few people know much about Koch Industries and that's because the billionaire Koch brothers want it that way. For five decades, CEO Charles Koch has kept Koch Industries quietly operating in deepest secrecy, with a view toward very, very long-term profits. He's a genius businessman: patient with earnings, able to learn from his mistakes, determined that his employees develop a reverence for free-market ruthlessness, and a master disrupter. These strategies have made him and his brother David together richer than Bill Gates. But there's another side to this story. If you want to understand how we killed the unions in this country, how we widened the income divide, stalled progress on climate change, and how our corporations bought the influence industry, all you have to do is read this book. Seven years in the making, Kochland reads like a true-life thriller, with larger-than-life characters driving the battles on every page. The book tells the ambitious tale of how one private company consolidated power over half a century?and how in doing so, it helped transform capitalism into something that feels deeply alienating to many Americans today Shortlisted for the 2019 Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year. The extraordinary account of how the secretive Koch Industries became one of the largest private companies in the world. Koch Industries, the sprawling industrial conglomerate owned by Charles and David Koch, specializes in the kinds of stunningly profitable businesses that undergird every aspect of modern life: it controls the nitrogen fertilizer that puts food on your table, the fibres in your clothes, the building materials that make your homes and offices, and the microchips that drive your life online. For five decades, CEO Charles Koch has kept Koch Industries quietly operating in deepest secrecy, with a view towards very, very long-term profits. He's a brilliant businessman: patient with earnings, able to learn from his mistakes, determined that his employees develop a reverence for free-market ruthlessness, and a master disruptor. Seven years in the making, Kochland tells the ambitious tale of how one private company consolidated power over half a century – and, in doing so, helped transform capitalism into something that feels deeply alienating to many Americans today. Intro Dedication Preface: The Fighter Part 1: The Koch Method Chapter 1: Under Surveillance Chapter 2: The Age of Volatility Begins Chapter 3: The War for Pine Bend Chapter 4: The Age of Volatility Intensifies Chapter 5: The War for Koch Industries Chapter 6: Koch University Chapter 7: The Enemies Circle Chapter 8: The Secret Brotherhood of Process Owners Chapter 9: Off the Rails Chapter 10: The Failure Part 2: The Black Box Economy Chapter 11: Rise of the Texans Chapter 12: Information Asymmetries Chapter 13: Attack of the Killer Electrons! Chapter 14: Trading the Real WorldChapter 15: Seizing Georgia-Pacific Chapter 16: The Dawn of the Labor Management System Chapter 17: The Crash Part 3: Goliath Chapter 18: Solidarity Chapter 19: Warming Chapter 20: Hotter Chapter 21: The War for America's BTUs Chapter 22: The Education of Chase Koch Chapter 23: Make the IBU Great Again Chapter 24: Burning Chapter 25: Control Acknowledgments Appendix: Alphabetical Directory of Significant Characters in Kochland About the Author Notes Index Copyright