Koch Industries was able to use this information to anticipate the amount of power (megawatt hours) it needed to deliver to the California power grid (admittedly, in a way that was somewhat controversial because of poorly drafted legislation relating to the new regulatory regime governing power distribution and resale in the state).Īnd, in 2000, while many firms in the economy were still riding the natural gas boom of the 90s,

This helped Koch predict with great accuracy the future supply of electricity and the resulting demand for natural gas. Koch… discovered that the National Parks Service published data showing the snow pack in the California mountains, data that Koch could analyze to determine how much water would be flowing in future months to generate power at California’s hydroelectric plants. Much of Kochland is devoted to stories in which Koch Industries’ ability to gather and analyze data from across its various units led to the production of superior results for the economy and consumers. The impressive information operation of Koch Industries Indeed, Koch Industries has much in common with modern technology firms like Amazon in this respect - but decades before the information technology revolution made the full power of “Big Data” gathering and processing as obvious as it is today. What really stands out across most or all of the stories Leonard has to tell, however, is the deep appreciation that Charles Koch and his entrepreneurially-minded employees have for the fundamental nature of the market as an information discovery process. One prominent example is how Koch Industries learned from its environmentally unfriendly past and implemented vigorous programs to ensure “10,000% compliance” with all federal and state environmental laws. And all of the stories he presents are supported by sympathetic emotional appeals through personal anecdotes.īut, even then, many of the negative claims are part of a larger theme of Koch Industries progressively improving its business practices. He includes plenty of material detailing, for example, their employees playing fast and loose with environmental protection rules, or their labor lawyers aggressively bargaining with unions, sometimes to the detriment of workers. Leonard actually intended his book to be quite so complimentary to the Koch brothers and the vast commercial empire they built up over the past several decades. Now, I should note that I don’t believe Mr. It’s truly an inspirational American story.

A recently published book, “ Kochland – The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America” by Christopher Leonard, presents a gripping account of relentless innovation and the power of the entrepreneur to overcome adversity in pursuit of delivering superior goods and services to the market while also reaping impressive profits.

Kochland goodreads