Koch Nearly Lost All Earnings in Late 1990s From Destructively Motivated Leaders

Charles Koch disclosed that Koch Industries nearly lost all company earnings in the late 1990s due to hiring leaders who were 'destructively motivated' seeking power and control rather than contribution. The crisis stemmed from violations of Koch's core principle of hiring first on values, then on talent, with leaders in agriculture and refining hiding failures while fabricating successes. This confession represents a rare public admission of near-catastrophic management failure at one of America's largest private companies.