About Me
Me and my mom circa 1973. "I still love chocolate!"
My name is Rick Koerber. For the curious, I was born Claud Roderick Franklin. Koerber is an adopted name. We were poor when I was growing up but not so much that I understood what that meant until I was an adolescent. I was raised by a single mom and a fantastic extended family (oddly, I think they were all Democrats).
Yeah, I've pretty much always been cool. I guess you could say I was just born that way.
I’ve pretty much always felt strong and willing to take on the world. (Pay no attention to the exceptionally large forehead, I’ve always been told it means that I’m “very smart.”) Somehow, I was born a capitalist. I’ve been an entrepreneur since I can remember. Even when I was a small boy my cousin and I were coming up with different ways to make a huge success.
"Now the money, I can explain that—but the brown silk shirt and the super long bangs, nope."
Growing up, I had a vision of myself doing more than just “finding a good job.” My entire family had as strong work ethic, and I learned to love work at an early age. But, I also valued thinking. The whole idea of “working smarter” always seemed to resonate with me.
Growing up, almost every year my mom, her sister and my grandmother would dress us up for the annual "Shriner's Parade." Hey, if you were going to be a Smurf (they were cool once), what Smurf would you be? Or Spock - now what's wrong with that? It is perfectly logical. The whole pirate thing on the other hand, can only be understood by those who know the name, "Ragnar Danneskjöld."
I don’t ever remember wanting to “be rich,” as a goal in and of itself. I wanted to make money—that is for sure—but I was more interested in making my mark on the world. I’ve always naturally been involved in organizing others for a cause.
I suppose my first real “business venture” was mowing lawns in the summer with my cousin. As I got older, the businesses took on many different forms. Since age 19 I’ve started dozens of businesses, with most of them experiencing both successes and failures. From 1996 through 2000 I built and ran an Internet start-up, that ultimately resulted in my personal bankruptcy. It was through that experience that I had my first taste of government bureaucracy and the very real challenges associated with choosing the course in life of being a businessman.
“It is time we realized that socialism can come without overt seizure of property or nationalization of private business. It matters little that you hold the title to your property or business if government can dictate policy and procedure and holds life and death power over your business. The machinery of this power already exists. Lowell Mason, former anti-trust law enforcer for the Federal Trade Commission, has written, “American business is being harassed, bled and even blackjacked under a preposterous crazy quilt system of laws.” There are so many that the government literally can find some charge to bring against any concern it chooses to prosecute.”[1]
[1] Ronald Reagan, “A Time for Choosing” (televised campaign address for Goldwater presidential campaign, October 27, 1964).
In 2002 I started Franklin Squires Investments. Between 2004 and 2007 along with the help of a handful of business partners, I built this company (along with its subsidiaries) into a multi-million dollar enterprise. In one year alone, between 2005 and 2006, our best estimates show that this FranklinSquires group of companies generated over $100,000,000 in gross revenues/deposits.
This was me (a few years ago before my hair started changing color) getting ready to pay Christmas Bonuses with Sacagawea Dollars
I started my daily talk radio show (Free Capitalist Radio) in 2005 and began using the moniker “the FreeCapitalist” shortly thereafter. My driving motivation is my love of freedom and liberty.
After winning multiple gold medals in academic debate (including a national championship), I graduated with an Associates of Arts degree from Casper College and pursued my bachelors in Public Policy and Religious Area Studies at the University of Denver.
As anyone whose been around me for any length of time knows, I’m from Wyoming. I love the Rocky Mountains. I’m married, and my family and I (with our seven children) live in Utah with two smart Border Collies and one frustratingly dumb but lovable Australian Shepherd. As far as hobbies go, besides the obvious, I’m just a couple of years into the Salt Water Reef Tank hobby and our 11 year old has gotten me started with RC cars and trucks. I am also a member of Harley-Davidson’s “Harley Owners Group” and sponsor a local stock car racer at the Rocky Mountain Raceway.
As odd as it seems to my Objectivist friends and to those who knew me back in high school, I am an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (I converted when I was 19 years old (shortly after Elder Christiansen and Elder Andrew came knocking on our door Easter Sunday 1992).
I have little tolerance for meanness, duplicity, and pretended interests. I’m not afraid to take a stand on principle, and am often the subject of gossip and second-hand criticism. That’s the price we pay in my estimation, for resisting the tide of mediocrity.
Today I work primarily as an entrepreneur, managing interests in several companies. My primary passion however, over the last decade, has been and remains advancing the FreeCapitalist Project. I have had a very specific vision for the Project since I was a small boy watching the general election returns of the 1980 presidential contest. Building the Project is an undertaking I expect to last a lifetime.
May 2009 Press Conference (backed by some very good friends and amazing people in their own right).
From mid 2007 to the present, several of my real estate related business ventures, including the bulk of the FranklinSquires businesses, began to feel the effects of both an overly aggressive government bureaucracy and at the same time America’s largest economic downturn in our lifetime. The sub-prime mortgage crisis and the related effects it has had on the mortgage, credit, and real estate markets has fueled what Steve Forbes has described as our government’s ever increasing, “itch to indict.”
In May of 2009 I was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Later that same year they added several more charges. In their press conference in May of 2009 (and ever since) the government has accused me of orchestrating and running a $100M Ponzi-scheme. Their allegations are absurd.
My battle against these bogus charges is nothing new to those who have listened to my radio show or for those who have followed my business or political involvements over the last several years. Not only did I anticipate the current situation, I have spoken and written about it extensively. We live in an America today that is much different than the America many of us imagined growing up, and light years apart from the vision the American Founder’s held for our great republic. I have dedicated my life to a set of core principles in my own personal effort to help bring about a moral revolution to sanction and complete what the Founders started more than two centuries ago.
Faced with the current political, economic, and social insanity growing every so sticky and undeniable, there are a lot of us who have decided that there is no price too steep to pay for standing up and advancing this revolution. As a Latter-day Saint, as a Christian, and even more broadly, as a principle based radical for capitalism – I live my life.
I enjoy sharing my philosophy and life experiences with others who may also be looking for hope – not just hope for a better “after life” but for life today! I’ve learned that even in an abundance mentality there are plenty of life’s difficulties to go around. For businessmen and entrepreneurs, a lot of such trouble usually seem to be accompanied by plenty of annoying, brain-off commissars, moochers, and those who are best described as just plain old schmucks. Nevertheless, some things are worth fighting for. Some adversities are required to help us focus our resolve, refine our values, and mark our life paths.
I started this website for two basic reasons. Those close to me often tell me that I’m lousy at keeping people informed about what’s going on in my life. Also, I’m exhausted by the anonymous cowards taking unanswered pot shots against my associates and me on the Internet without having a place to counter them.
This site is the most up to date, effective way to get in touch with me and to find general information about my goings on. If you’d like to contact me you can do so using the information below. If you are up to anything irascible, just go away.
Sincerely,
C. Rick Koerber
Capitalist, Entrepreneur
Phone: 888-406-6494
Fax: 801-504-8069
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