From 1961, when Charles came to work at his father's business, through 2005, the value of the Standard & Poor's 500 grew about 110-fold, assuming the reinvestment of dividends. During that same period, the value of Koch Industries grew nearly 1,700-fold, using the same assumptions. The growth of Koch companies has been achieved both through acquisitions and through expansion and broadening of existing businesses. Koch companies also exit or decrease their investments in businesses based on a continuous evaluation process that compares their internal value to their market value. (See Koch Industries acquisitions and related milestones.)

Charles's academic life was spent at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1957, Charles received a bachelor's degree in general engineering. He also received a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1958 and a masters degree in chemical engineering in 1960.

Charles was born and lives in Wichita, Kansas, one of four sons of Fred C. and Mary Robinson Koch. Charles and his wife, Liz, have two children, Elizabeth and Chase.

Charles Koch is a libertarian and supports many pro-free-market organizations such as the Cato Institute, which he founded together with Edward H. Crane and Murray Rothbard in 1977.

Koch also funds the highly selective, Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program through the Institute for Humane Studies.