Charles Koch

Charles Koch, Chairman and Co-CEO—By the time Charles graduated from high school, he had attended eight schools (“but only got kicked out of one”). Despite earning three engineering degrees from MIT, he claims he is “a lousy engineer” but excels at making mistakes—“lots and lots of them.” By learning from those mistakes and implementing a principle-based framework, the company he leads has grown 9,000-fold since 1960. Utterly rejecting retirement, even at the age of ninety, Charles continues to push for a principle-based approach to life, business and society. His wife of fifty-plus years and their two children are on board with this passion, and his three grandchildren are well on their way.