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Koch network
Charles G. (born 1935) and David H. Koch (1940–2019), sometimes referred to as the Koch brothers, have become famous for their financial and political influence in United States politics with a libertarian political stance, particularly the libertarian conservative or right-libertarian branch most commonly found in American-style libertarianism. From around 2004 to 2019, with "foresight and perseverance", the brothers organized like-minded wealthy libertarian-oriented conservatives, spent hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build an "integrated" and "stealth" network of think tanks, foundations, "grassroots" movements, academic programs, advocacy and legal groups to "destroy the prevalent statist paradigm", and reshape public opinion to favor minimal government. As of mid 2018, the media has been encouraged to refer to the "Koch network" rather than the "Koch brothers".
The Koch brothers are the sons of Fred C. Koch (1900–1967), who founded Koch Industries, now the second largest privately held company in the United States. As of 2012 they owned 84% of Koch Industries stock, and as of December 2022, Charles Koch was estimated to have a net worth of $66 billion, making him the 14th-richest person in the world. Fred C. had four sons, but the other two, Fredrick and William, are not involved in the family business; Charles and David bought them out in 1983, and neither are involved with the family foundations, or Charles and David's political or philanthropic network.
The brothers' ideology is libertarian, although they also funded many conservative causes. The late David Koch described himself as a social liberal, and in the early years of their political activity ran for vice president as the Libertarian Party's candidate; however, his "intense" focus was "on economic and fiscal issues", i.e. being fiscally conservative or economically liberal, rather than other libertarian causes, and as of 2014 the millions of dollars both brothers donated to candidates went to Republicans, not Libertarians.
They actively fund and support organizations that contribute significantly to Republican candidates, promote climate change denial, and in particular that lobby against efforts to expand government's role in health care and climate change mitigation. Unlike less patient, shrewd, or deep-pocketed activists, they spent time and money on less visible projects "like influencing policy at the state legislative level". By 2010, they had donated more than $100 million to dozens of conservative advocacy organizations. From 2009 to 2016, the network of conservative/right-wing donors they organized pledged to spend $889 million and its infrastructure was said by Politico to rival "that of the Republican National Committee". Despite its secrecy, the vast reach, massive funding, and political success of the network has gradually raised the brothers' profile and made them a "bogeyman" among many liberals and Democrats.
In May 2019, the Kochs announced a change in direction, described as a "turn away from partisan politics to focus more on goals that cut across ideologies." The Koch network would henceforth operate under the umbrella of Stand Together, a nonprofit focused on supporting community groups. The network emphasized this was "not a branding exercise" and stated that its priorities would be efforts aimed at such anodyne goals as increasing employment, addressing poverty and addiction, ensuring excellent education, building a stronger economy, and bridging divides and building respect. However, others maintain that "Koch-affiliated groups" are still active "at the front lines of our current culture wars" and the Koch Network has also continued its political activities such as lobbying and backing Republican candidates financially in elections.
The "Koch brothers" were sons of Fred C. Koch, a founding member of the John Birch Society. He gave a speech in 1963 warning of "a takeover" of America in which Communists would "infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us". According to at least one source (Chris Cillizza), the Koch's domination of American politics, "especially among Republicans", began in 2004 and lasted "through at least 2016". In an April 3, 2014, op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Charles described himself as involved in politics "only reluctantly and recently" and "only in the past decade", starting with the founding of the biannual donor seminars; however, the nonpartisan fact-checking group PolitiFact found the Kochs had "made many campaign contributions prior to 2004", coming to approximately $7 million, in addition to federal lobbying and contributions to conservative ideological think tanks (Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Mercatus Center, and Citizens for a Sound Economy).
In public opinion pieces and other forums, Charles Koch proclaimed his conception of economic freedom as essential to the well-being of society. Believing society so far off course that it was far from sufficient to simply fund candidates for office, the Kochs sought to change the zeitgeist. To that end, they founded and provided sustained funding for an array of free-market and libertarian think tanks and academic research entities starting in the 1970s. These included the Cato Institute (by the end of 1974, Charles Koch had helped found what would become the Cato Institute), as well as the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. On at least two occasions, David Koch voiced support for positions at odds with conservative Republican orthodoxy, such as social liberalism, legal abortion, same-sex marriage, using defense spending cuts and tax increases to balance the budget, and a withdrawal by the U.S. military from the Middle East. At the same time, he also said his "intense" focus was "on economic and fiscal issues", not social issues or "how much military we need", and that on foreign policy, "I'm not an expert ... so my opinion probably doesn't count for very much."
David was the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1980, running on a platform of abolishing Social Security, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools. By being a candidate, Koch took advantage of campaign finance laws exempting him from limits on donations and ultimately "contributed about $2.1 million, more than half the [Libertarian] campaign budget". This gave the candidates enough cash to run advertisements and try to get on the ballot in all 50 states. However, he and running mate Ed Clark won only 1.1% of the vote, and the experience of running for office led him to change course: "I had enough ... [W]e are not a nation that debates issues. We vote on candidates' personalities."
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Charles G. (born 1935) and David H. Koch (1940–2019), sometimes referred to as the Koch brothers, have become famous for their financial and political influence in United States politics with a libertarian political stance, particularly the libertarian conservative or right-libertarian branch most commonly found in American-style libertarianism. From around 2004 to 2019, with "foresight and perseverance", the brothers organized like-minded wealthy libertarian-oriented conservatives, spent hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build an "integrated" and "stealth" network of think tanks, foundations, "grassroots" movements, academic programs, advocacy and legal groups to "destroy the prevalent statist paradigm", and reshape public opinion to favor minimal government. As of mid 2018, the media has been encouraged to refer to the "Koch network" rather than the "Koch brothers".
The Koch brothers are the sons of Fred C. Koch (1900–1967), who founded Koch Industries, now the second largest privately held company in the United States. As of 2012 they owned 84% of Koch Industries stock, and as of December 2022, Charles Koch was estimated to have a net worth of $66 billion, making him the 14th-richest person in the world. Fred C. had four sons, but the other two, Fredrick and William, are not involved in the family business; Charles and David bought them out in 1983, and neither are involved with the family foundations, or Charles and David's political or philanthropic network.
The brothers' ideology is libertarian, although they also funded many conservative causes. The late David Koch described himself as a social liberal, and in the early years of their political activity ran for vice president as the Libertarian Party's candidate; however, his "intense" focus was "on economic and fiscal issues", i.e. being fiscally conservative or economically liberal, rather than other libertarian causes, and as of 2014 the millions of dollars both brothers donated to candidates went to Republicans, not Libertarians.
They actively fund and support organizations that contribute significantly to Republican candidates, promote climate change denial, and in particular that lobby against efforts to expand government's role in health care and climate change mitigation. Unlike less patient, shrewd, or deep-pocketed activists, they spent time and money on less visible projects "like influencing policy at the state legislative level". By 2010, they had donated more than $100 million to dozens of conservative advocacy organizations. From 2009 to 2016, the network of conservative/right-wing donors they organized pledged to spend $889 million and its infrastructure was said by Politico to rival "that of the Republican National Committee". Despite its secrecy, the vast reach, massive funding, and political success of the network has gradually raised the brothers' profile and made them a "bogeyman" among many liberals and Democrats.
In May 2019, the Kochs announced a change in direction, described as a "turn away from partisan politics to focus more on goals that cut across ideologies." The Koch network would henceforth operate under the umbrella of Stand Together, a nonprofit focused on supporting community groups. The network emphasized this was "not a branding exercise" and stated that its priorities would be efforts aimed at such anodyne goals as increasing employment, addressing poverty and addiction, ensuring excellent education, building a stronger economy, and bridging divides and building respect. However, others maintain that "Koch-affiliated groups" are still active "at the front lines of our current culture wars" and the Koch Network has also continued its political activities such as lobbying and backing Republican candidates financially in elections.
The "Koch brothers" were sons of Fred C. Koch, a founding member of the John Birch Society. He gave a speech in 1963 warning of "a takeover" of America in which Communists would "infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us". According to at least one source (Chris Cillizza), the Koch's domination of American politics, "especially among Republicans", began in 2004 and lasted "through at least 2016". In an April 3, 2014, op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Charles described himself as involved in politics "only reluctantly and recently" and "only in the past decade", starting with the founding of the biannual donor seminars; however, the nonpartisan fact-checking group PolitiFact found the Kochs had "made many campaign contributions prior to 2004", coming to approximately $7 million, in addition to federal lobbying and contributions to conservative ideological think tanks (Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Mercatus Center, and Citizens for a Sound Economy).
In public opinion pieces and other forums, Charles Koch proclaimed his conception of economic freedom as essential to the well-being of society. Believing society so far off course that it was far from sufficient to simply fund candidates for office, the Kochs sought to change the zeitgeist. To that end, they founded and provided sustained funding for an array of free-market and libertarian think tanks and academic research entities starting in the 1970s. These included the Cato Institute (by the end of 1974, Charles Koch had helped found what would become the Cato Institute), as well as the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. On at least two occasions, David Koch voiced support for positions at odds with conservative Republican orthodoxy, such as social liberalism, legal abortion, same-sex marriage, using defense spending cuts and tax increases to balance the budget, and a withdrawal by the U.S. military from the Middle East. At the same time, he also said his "intense" focus was "on economic and fiscal issues", not social issues or "how much military we need", and that on foreign policy, "I'm not an expert ... so my opinion probably doesn't count for very much."
David was the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1980, running on a platform of abolishing Social Security, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools. By being a candidate, Koch took advantage of campaign finance laws exempting him from limits on donations and ultimately "contributed about $2.1 million, more than half the [Libertarian] campaign budget". This gave the candidates enough cash to run advertisements and try to get on the ballot in all 50 states. However, he and running mate Ed Clark won only 1.1% of the vote, and the experience of running for office led him to change course: "I had enough ... [W]e are not a nation that debates issues. We vote on candidates' personalities."
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