Koch has published four books detailing his business philosophy, Market Based Management (2006),[8] The Science of Success (2007),[9] Good Profit (2015),[10] and Believe in People (2020).

In an interview with Warren Cassell Jr., which was recorded in February 2016, Koch stated that as a child he did not live a privileged lifestyle despite growing up in a wealthy family.

In June 1983, after a legal and boardroom battle, the stakes of Frederick and Bill were bought out for $1.1 billion and Charles and his younger brother David became majority owners in the company.

"[34] In addition, he has warned that drastic government overspending and a decline of the free enterprise system will prove detrimental to long-term social and economic prosperity.

[35] According to Stephen Moore, influences on Koch include Alexis de Tocqueville,[36] Adam Smith, Michael Polanyi,[20] Joseph Schumpeter, Julian Simon, Paul Johnson, Thomas Sowell, Charles Murray, Leonard Read, and F. A.

In an interview with the American Journal of Business, Koch said he owes "a huge debt of gratitude to the giants who created the Austrian School [of economics].

"[21] He also considers public firms to be "feeding grounds for lawyers and lawsuits," with regulations like Sarbanes–Oxley only increasing the earnings potential of privately held companies.

"[21] He believes billionaires Warren Buffett and George Soros, who fund organizations with different ideologies, "simply haven't been sufficiently exposed to the ideas of liberty.

"[21] Koch claimed "prosperity is under attack" by the Obama administration and sought to warn "of policies that threaten to erode our economic freedom and transfer vast sums of money to the state.

Too many businesses have successfully lobbied for special favors and treatment by seeking mandates for their products, subsidies (in the form of cash payments from the government), and regulations and tariffs to keep more efficient competitors at bay.

"[40] In an April 2014 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Koch wrote, "the fundamental concepts of dignity, respect, equality before the law and personal freedom are under attack by the nation's own government."

In an interview with the Wichita Eagle,[22] he said that he was motivated to write the book by Koch Industries' 2004 acquisition of Invista so he could give new employees a "comprehensive picture" of MBM.

Among other projects, the IHS runs the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program, which "has supported more than 900 students during eight-week internships at public policy organizations, both in D.C. and around the country.

What all the Koch-funded programs have in common is an interest in studying free societies with an eye to understanding the mechanisms behind the assumption that economic freedom benefits humanity.

Between 2004 and 2008, Koch gave $246 million, focusing on "libertarian causes, giving money for academic and public policy research and social welfare.

"[47] Koch was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from George Mason University in recognition of his financial support "through scholarships, faculty recruitment, and research grants".

[55] He has heavily funded organizations and politicians who deny or downplay climate change and environmental regulations that observers say is due to his business interests in the fossil fuel industry.

[56][57][58][59] A leaked 2012 fundraising plan indicated that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation contributed $25,000 in 2011 to the Heartland Institute, an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank.

[64][65] The American Enterprise Institute received $2.1 million over two decades from the Charles Koch Foundation for its climate change denialist activities.

[56] Koch has backed the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the CO2 Coalition, both of which also supported former President Donald Trump’s 2017 withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

[68] Koch has also given money to the American Institute for Economic Research, the right-wing libertarian think tank which sponsored the Great Barrington Declaration.

[64][65] The declaration's sponsor employed Emergent Order, a public relations firm which itself receives funding from Koch's Foundation, registered as $1.4 million between 2014 and 2019.

"[73] In July 2015 Charles Koch and his brother were praised by President Obama and Anthony Van Jones for their bipartisan efforts to reform the criminal justice system.

[74][75] For roughly a decade Koch has been advocating for several reforms within the prison system, including the reduction of recidivist criminals, easing the employment process for rehabilitated persons, and the defense of private property from asset forfeiture.

[75][76] Aligning with groups such as the ACLU, the Center for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation, Koch believes the current system has unfairly targeted low-income and minority communities all while wasting substantial government resources.

[75] In February 2016, Koch penned an opinion piece in The Washington Post, where he said he agreed with presidential candidate Bernie Sanders about the unfairness of corporate welfare and mass incarceration in the United States.

[78] On November 13, 2020, reports in several media published statements made during an interview with The Wall Street Journal by Koch about his regret that he had contributed significantly to the development of hyper-partisanship in the United States.

The article describes the brothers' commitment to free-market principles, the growth and development of their business, and their support for Tea Party organizations and political candidates.