Wichita billionaire Charles Koch, 87, to share CEO role as Koch Industries plans for future
Koch Industries is planning for a future without 87-year-old billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, who has been the chief executive officer of one of the largest private companies in the United States since 1967.
Charles Koch will now share the CEO title with longtime executive Dave Robertson, the company announced on Thursday. Chase Koch, 45, was promoted to executive vice president of the company along with Richard Dinkel.
Robertson, who was president and chief operating officer of the company, has been with Koch Industries since 1984. He has served as president of Flint Hills Resources, Koch Petroleum Group, Koch Beef Company and Koch Agriculture Company. He lives in Wichita.
The Thursday announcement by Koch Industries said Charles Koch’s role within the company will remain the same. It characterized the leadership shift as “important leadership changes focused on ensuring that the company will continue to succeed well into the future.”
“My role and responsibilities will continue as they have been,” Koch is quoted as saying in a news release by the company. “I believe altogether these changes will improve our ability to continually transform for the benefit of our company, our employees, our customers and people throughout society.”
Jim Hannan, of Atlanta, will step into the president and chief operating officer role. He was previously the executive vice president and CEO of Enterprises for Koch Industries, where he oversaw Georgia-Pacific, Infor, Molex, Koch Engineering Solutions and Koch Investment Group. He was also in charge of communications and marketing, logistics and public affairs for Koch Industries.
Koch Industries has a presence in more than 70 countries and employs more than 120,000 people worldwide, according to Forbes, which estimates that the company has an annual revenue exceeding $125 billion.
Bloomberg’s 2023 billionaire index ranks Charles Koch the 15th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $66.8 billion.
Koch Industries declined to make Robertson available for an interview.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 3:33 PM.