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Jim Koch

Jim Koch
Koch in 2013
Born
Charles James Koch

(1949-05-27) May 27, 1949 (age 76)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA, MBA, JD)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company
Spouses
Susan
​
(divorced)​
​
(m. 1994)​
Children4

Charles James Koch (/kʊk/ KUUK; born May 27, 1949)[1][2] is an American businessman who is 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.[3]

Early life

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Koch was born in Cincinnati, Ohio,[4] to German-American parents Charles and Dorothy (née Kautz) Koch.[1] Charles was a fifth-generation brewer.[4] Koch earned Bachelor of Arts, Master of Business Administration, and Juris Doctor degrees from Harvard University.[5]

Career

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Koch 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.[6]

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.[3]

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.[7]

At an August 2018 dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump, Koch said the corporate tax cut of 2017 played a major role in making the Boston Beer Company more competitive in regard to foreign competitors: "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."[8][9][10] Koch faced criticism after he made the comments. [11] [12][13][14][15]

Personal life

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Koch's marriage to his first wife, Susan, ended around the time he started the Boston Beer Company.[16][17] He remarried to entrepreneur Cynthia Fisher in 1994.[16][5] He has two children from his first marriage and two from his second.[18] They live in Newton, Massachusetts.[19][20]

Koch is unrelated to Stone Brewing Co. cofounder Greg Koch.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b The Boston Beer Company (June 15, 2011). "Charles Koch, Director of The Boston Beer Company Dies at 88" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 8, 2022. They have four children: Charles James (Jim)...
  2. ^ DeVito, Carlo (2022). Drink the Northeast. Nashville, Tennessee: Cider Mill. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-6464-3226-4. Jim Koch...born on May 27, 1949.
  3. ^ a b "Jim Koch". Forbes. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Brooks, Jay R. "The Oxford Companion to Beer definition of Koch, Jim". Craft Beer & Brewing. Retrieved October 8, 2022. Jim Koch was born in Cincinnati..
  5. ^ a b "Story Details - Alumni - Harvard Business School". May 11, 2017.
  6. ^ "People: Boston Beer Company Inc (SAM)". Reuters. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  7. ^ BRAHAM, DAVID (September 28, 2017). "BOOK REVIEWS: QUENCH YOUR THIRST, DISTILLED, THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF FAMILY WEALTH". campdenFB. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  8. ^ "Remarks by President Trump Before Dinner with Business Leaders". whitehouse.gov. August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via National Archives.
  9. ^ Andersen, Travis; Chesto, Jon (August 9, 2018). "Boston Beer boss tells Trump that tax cut helps his company 'kick ass'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  10. ^ "The real reason Boston Beer's Jim Koch met with Donald Trump". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  11. ^ "The real reason Boston Beer's Jim Koch met with Donald Trump". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  12. ^ Limitone, Julia (August 14, 2018). "Boston-area mayor boycotts Sam Adams after founder praises Trump". FOXBusiness. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  13. ^ Holland • •, Frank (August 15, 2018). "'I Was Outraged': Man Hangs Protest Sign Near Sam Adams Brewery". NBC Boston. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  14. ^ "Sam Adams is the latest brand with a Trump problem - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  15. ^ "Sam Adams Brewery Criticized By Homemade Sign Hung Next Door - CBS Boston". www.cbsnews.com. August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Koch, James (2016). Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two. New York: Flatiron Books. pp. 102, 118. ISBN 978-1-250-07050-0. LCCN 2015046334.
  17. ^ Gerber, Scott (October 21, 2015). "The Unlikely Sales Incentive That Launched Sam Adams Beer". Inc.com.
  18. ^ "CNN.com - Career - Samuel Adams brewer Jim Koch: Beer career - March 16, 2001". www.cnn.com.
  19. ^ "Newton resident Jim Koch thanks Trump for lowering taxes | Village 14". August 8, 2018. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  20. ^ Williams, DeMarco. "Samuel Adams Founder Jim Koch Talks Beer And Boston". Forbes.
  21. ^ "Greg Koch". RateBeer. February 22, 2002. Retrieved October 26, 2017.