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ALSO BY CHRISTOPHER LEONARD
The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business
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NOTES
The following notes establish sources for the information in Kochland. Some facts are cited to a single source when, at times, they came from multiple sources that reinforced the given fact. For the sake of clarity, the author chose to cite the primary and most reliable sources for these facts, rather than listing every interview or comment that supports it. Fred Koch’s domineering personality, for example, was related by dozens of interviewees and written sources, but only a select few sources were chosen as citations.
A handful of sources agreed to be interviewed for this book only on the condition that they remain unidentified. Information that they provided was only included in this book if it could be verified by another source or documents independently obtained by the author. When information from those sources is used, it is identified as being from a source speaking on background.
PREFACE: THE FIGHTER
On May 18, 1981 . . . Wichita, Kansas: Morgan Stanley interoffice memorandum, May 20, 1981, marked confidential.
Charles Koch was forty-five years old: Analysis and description of Charles Koch based in part on author interviews with Charles Koch and dozens of current and former Koch Industries executives and managers who worked with him at various times between 1975 and 2018. Physical description of Charles Koch in 1981 based on photo in article “Wichita’s Koch a Private Man with Money,” Wichita Eagle, April 30, 1978.
“He does not want this cash”: Morgan Stanley interoffice memorandum, May 20, 1981, marked confidential.
“Certain of [Koch’s] commodity traders”: Ibid.
Secrecy was a strategic necessity for Koch Industries: Analysis of Koch Industries based in part on notes from reporting in Wichita and several other locations between 2013 and 2018, and author interviews with Charles Koch and dozens of current and former Koch Industries executives and managers.
When he was challenged by his own brothers: See endnotes, ch. 5 and ch. 7.
When he was challenged . . . first years as CEO: See endnotes, ch. 3.
When the FBI . . . criminal investigation: See endnotes, ch. 1 and ch. 7.
When a liberal Congress: See endnotes, ch. 19 and ch. 20.
After prevailing . . . true to his vision: Author interview with Charles Koch, 2015; also author interviews with Roger Williams, F. Lynn Markel, Bradley Hall, Bernard Paulson, Herbert Roskind, Dean Watson, Randy Pohlman, Steve Feilmeier, David Robertson, Chase Koch, Jim Hannan, Steve Packebush, and other current and former Koch Industries executives between 2013 and 2018.
An internal think tank and deal-making committee: See endnotes, ch. 9, ch. 11, and ch. 14.
In 2003 . . . bought a group of money-losing fertilizer plants: See endnotes, ch. 14.
This strategy laid . . . decades of continuous growth: Charles Koch, The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2007); Charles Koch, Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World’s Most Successful Companies (New York: Crown Business, 2015); Christopher Leonard, “The New Koch,” Fortune, December 19, 2013.
It specialized in the kind of businesses that are indispensable: Leonard, “The New Koch.”
Charles Koch and his brother . . . Koch Industries: Bryan Horwath, “Charles and David Koch Jointly Named 5th-Richest Americans,” Wichita Eagle, October 15, 2015; court transcripts and exhibits, William I. Koch et al. v. Koch Industries Inc. et al.
Together the two men are worth $120 billion: Forbes Billionaires list, 2018.
His portrait hangs . . . his videotaped speeches: Notes from reporting in Koch Industries headquarters, Wichita, in 2013, 2015, and 2018; author interviews with dozens of current and former Koch Industries employees.
America operated under . . . the New Deal: Political analysis based on interviews and research including: David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999); Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., The Age of Roosevelt, vols. 1–3 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1957–1960); Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore and Thomas J. Sugrue, These United States: A Nation in the Making, 1890 to Present (New York: W. W. Norton, 2015); Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016).
Koch Industries . . . lobbying operations in the United States: Center for Responsive Politics, Lobbying Database, Koch Industries Lobbying Disclosures, Office of the Clerk, US House of Representatives; author interviews with Koch Industries Lobbyists, including Philip Ellender, 2014–18.
Charles Koch frequently derides the current political era: Charles Koch, “Corporate Cronyism Harms America,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2012.
The entire economy depends on refined oil: See endnotes, ch. 21.
The legacy oil refiners . . . exploited arcane sections of the law: See endnotes, ch. 21.
In 2018, the company’s headquarters . . . resembled a fortified kingdom: Author’s notes, observations, and photographs reporting at Koch Industries headquarters, 2018.
Adherence to the creed is nonnegotiable . . . at Koch Industries: Author interviews with current and former Koch Industries employees and executives, 2013–14; Charles Koch, The Science of Success.
Readers will meet: Paulson, Watson, Heather Faragher, Philip Dubose, Steve Hammond, Brenden O’Neill, interviews by author, 2013–18.
One of those people is . . . James Elroy: James Elroy, interviews by author, 2014–16.
CHAPTER 1: UNDER SURVEILLANCE
FBI special agent James Elroy stood on . . . pastureland: Elroy, interviews by author, 2014–16; Final Report and Legislative Recommendations: A Report of the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, November 20, 1989; James Elroy, Testimony, Public Hearings of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, May 9, 1989.
For a long time, it was just Elroy . . . all alone: Elroy, interviews by author, 2014–16.
Elroy’s new bosses in the Senate were increasingly: Elroy, Kenneth Ballen, Senator Dennis DeConcini, interviews by author, 2014–17; Final Report and Legislative Recommendations, November 20, 1989.
Elroy’s photos were developed in a darkroom: Elroy, interviews by author, 2014–16.
Elroy wasn’t the typical FBI man: Oliver Revell, former FBI agent in charge, Oklahoma City, interview by author, 2014; Elroy, interviews by author, 2014–16.
The Senate had gotten a tip that Koch Oil was stealing: FBI internal memorandum, “Koch Industries Incorporated, Wichita, Kansas; CRIME ON AN INDIAN RESERVATION—THEFT; RACKETEERING INFLUENCE AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATION,” July 26, 1989; Elroy, Ballen, interviews by author, 2014–16; Final Report and Legislative Recommendations, November 20, 1989.