Summary

Mayer begins this chapter by telling the story of Donald Carlson, a Koch employee at an oil refinery who died of cancer after being exposed to harmful chemicals for his twenty-one years of employment. Koch Industries settled the case outside of court, escaping any real accountability. Mayer laments that this is unfortunately a common story in the history of Koch Industries. This chapter is dedicated to what Mayer calls “The Koch Method,” which is exemplified by Donald Carlson’s story (120); the Koch method, in a condensed form, puts profit before all else, including human life.

Koch Industries’ profits skyrocketed during the last decades of the twentieth century, as did the number of lawsuits it faced. Most notably, federal prosecutors brought a massive case against the company for violations of the Clean Water Act. Federal prosecutor Angela O’Connell led the...