Who Owns Kohler?

John Michael Kohler, an Austrian immigrant, founded the company in 1873 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, making cast iron and steel implements. In 1883 he enamelled a cast iron horse trough and sold it as a bathtub, an event the company treats as the founding moment of modern bathroom fixtures in America.

The company grew through the early twentieth century on plumbing innovation, including the first enameled cast-iron bathtubs and early residential generators. In 1974 it was reorganized as Kohler Co., consolidating plumbing, engines, and emerging businesses under one corporate umbrella.

Kohler became a design leader in the postwar decades, recruiting industrial designers and building the "bold look of Kohler" marketing identity. It expanded through acquisitions into generators, small engines, furniture, and tile, and opened Kohler Village, a planned company town where its headquarters and original foundry still operate.

In the twenty-first century Kohler moved upmarket into hospitality, building the American Club resort and golf destinations including Whistling Straits and Old Course Hotel St Andrews, while its plumbing business grew in Asia, especially India and China, where it is a leading premium brand.

Through 2024 to 2026 the company invested heavily in American manufacturing, announcing plant expansions in Wisconsin and other states amid reshoring demand. Leadership transitioned as David Kohler handed the CEO role to Joel Naeger in 2026 while keeping executive chairman duties, maintaining family control.