Jim Koch
{{Short description|American businessman and founder of Boston beer company}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{use American English|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jim Koch
| image = Jim Koch 2013.jpg
| caption = Jim Koch in 2013
| birth_name = Charles James Koch
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|5|27}}
| birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Harvard University
| occupation = Businessman
| title =
| term =
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| known for = Co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company
| boards =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Susan|||end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Cynthia Fisher|1994}}
}}
| parents =
| children = 4
| relations =
| website =
}}
Charles James Koch ({{IPAc-en|k|ʊ|k}} {{Respell|KUUK}}; born May 27, 1949){{cite press release |author=The Boston Beer Company |date=2011-06-15 |title=Charles Koch, Director of The Boston Beer Company Dies at 88 |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/charles-koch-director-of-the-boston-beer-company-dies-at-88-123931319.html |publisher=PR Newswire |access-date=2022-10-08}}{{cite web |url=https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/mIIYrWUTwB/ |title=The Oxford Companion to Beer definition of Koch, Jim |last=Brooks |first=Jay R. |website=Craft Beer & Brewing |access-date=2022-10-08 |quote=Jim Koch was born in Cincinnati in 1949...}}{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Jay |date=2022-05-27 |title=Beer Birthday: Jim Koch |url=https://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/beer-birthday-jim-koch/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=Brookston Beer Bulletin |language=en-US}} is an American entrepreneur, billionaire, and the co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company, the producers of Samuel Adams beer. Koch is widely considered to be a founding father of the American craft brewing movement.{{Cite web|title=Jim Koch|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/jim-koch/|access-date=2021-08-02|website=Forbes|language=en}}
Early life
Koch was born in Cincinnati on May 27, 1949, one of four children born to German-American parents Charles and Dorothy Koch (née Kautz). Charles was a fifth-generation brewer. Koch earned a Bachelor of Arts, Juris Doctor, and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University.
Career
He is a former consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. He was formerly an Outward Bound instructor. In 1984, Koch co-founded the Boston Beer Company, the producers of Samuel Adams beer.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/officerProfile?symbol=SAM&officerId=49596|title=People: Boston Beer Company Inc (SAM)|website=Reuters|access-date=13 May 2017}}
Koch took Boston Beer company public in 1995 and owns a 19.5% stake in the company, giving him a net-worth of over $1 billion. In 2023 he was ranked #1905 in Forbes Billionaires 2023.
In 2016, Koch published Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two, in which he discussed how he left his career as a management consultant to start his own brewery using his great-great-grandfather's recipe.{{cite web |last1=BRAHAM |first1=DAVID |title=BOOK REVIEWS: QUENCH YOUR THIRST, DISTILLED, THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF FAMILY WEALTH |url=http://www.campdenfb.com/article/book-reviews-quench-your-thirst-distilled-destructive-power-family-wealth |website=campdenFB |access-date=29 May 2020 |date=28 September 2017}}
In August 2018, Koch said the corporate tax cut of 2017 helped to play a major role in making Boston Beer Company more competitive in regard to foreign competitors. Koch stated that "When I started Sam Adams, American beer was a joke, and it pissed me off. And now, American brewers make the best beer in the world. And the tax reform was a very big deal for all of us, because 85 percent of the beer made in the United States is owned by foreign companies."{{cite web |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-dinner-business-leaders/ |title=Remarks by President Trump Before Dinner with Business Leaders |date=2018-08-08 |via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov |access-date=2018-08-16 }}{{cite news |last1=Andersen |first1=Travis |last2=Chesto |first2=Jon |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/08/boston-beer-boss-tells-trump-new-jersy-meeting-tax-cut-plan-will-help-company-kick-ass/pfQOoSh4g8DstbIimdVKwK/story.html |title=Boston Beer boss tells Trump that tax cut helps his company 'kick ass' |work=The Boston Globe |date=2018-08-09 |access-date=2018-08-09 }}
Personal life
Koch's marriage to his first wife, Susan, ended around the time he started the Boston Beer Company.{{Harvnb|Koch|2016|p=102}}: "My wife Susan and I split up as I was launching the company."{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/201511/scott-gerber/exit-interview-jim-koch.html|title=The Unlikely Sales Incentive That Launched Sam Adams Beer|first=Scott|last=Gerber|date=October 21, 2015|website=Inc.com}}
He remarried to entrepreneur Cynthia Fisher in 1994.{{Harvnb|Koch|2016|p=118}}: "My wife Cynthia (whom I had married in 1994 and was an entrepreneur herself)..."{{Cite web|url=https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/Pages/story-bulletin.aspx?num=6201|title=Story Details - Alumni - Harvard Business School|date=May 11, 2017 }} He has two children from his first marriage and two from his second.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/03/16/koch/|title=CNN.com - Career - Samuel Adams brewer Jim Koch: Beer career - March 16, 2001|website=www.cnn.com}} They live in Newton, Massachusetts.{{Cite web|url=https://village14.com/2018/08/08/newton-resident-jim-koch-thanks-trump-for-lowering-taxes/|title=Newton resident Jim Koch thanks Trump for lowering taxes {{pipe}} Village 14|date=August 8, 2018|access-date=July 16, 2019|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120012647/https://village14.com/2018/08/08/newton-resident-jim-koch-thanks-trump-for-lowering-taxes/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestravelguide/2017/10/20/samuel-adams-founder-jim-koch-talks-beer-and-boston/|title=Samuel Adams Founder Jim Koch Talks Beer And Boston|first=DeMarco|last=Williams|website=Forbes}}
Koch is unrelated to Stone Brewing Co. cofounder Greg Koch.{{cite web |url=https://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=27 |title=Greg Koch |date=February 22, 2002 |publisher=RateBeer |access-date=October 26, 2017}}
Works cited
- {{cite book| last=Koch |first=James | title=Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two
| publisher=Flatiron Books | location=New York | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-250-07050-0 | lccn=2015046334 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.bostonbeer.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=69432&p=irol-homeprofile |title=About Us |publisher=The Boston Beer Company |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110090603/http://www.bostonbeer.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=69432&p=irol-homeprofile |archive-date=2006-11-10 }}
- {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/business/06interview.html |title=It's all about the beer, and independence |work=The New York Times |date=December 5, 2008 |author=Cortese, Amy}}
- {{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304510004575185931547860908 |title=Revolutionizing American beer |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=April 19, 2010 |author=Kesmodel, David}}
- {{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/03/16/koch/index.html |title=Samuel Adams brewer Jim Koch: Beer career |work=CNN.com/Career |date=March 16, 2001 |author=Allen, Jamie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010503015819/http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/03/16/koch/ |archive-date=May 3, 2001 |access-date=July 1, 2014}}
{{refend}}{{United States Semiquincentennial Commission}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Jim}}
Category:Harvard Business School alumni
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
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