David Koch, US billionaire and Republican mega donor, dies aged 79
- Koch, one of the richest men in the world, became champion of many conservative causes in America
- Together with his older brother, Charles, the Kochs were best known for a vast political network they built that became popularly known as the ‘Kochtopus’
Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch, who with his older brother, Charles, transformed American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes, has died at age 79.
Charles Koch announced the death on Friday, saying, “It is with a heavy heart that I now must inform you of David’s death.”
David Koch, who lived in New York City, was the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential candidate in 1980. He was a generous donor to conservative political causes as well as educational, medical and cultural groups.
The Koch brothers were best known for a vast political network they built that became popularly known as the “Kochtopus” for its far-reaching tentacles in support of conservative causes. The brothers founded the anti-tax, small government group Americans for Prosperity.
“I was taught from a young age that involvement in the public discourse is a civic duty,” David Koch wrote in a 2012 op-ed in the New York Post. “Each of us has a right – indeed, a responsibility, at times – to make his or her views known to the larger community to better form it as a whole. While we may not always get what we want, the exchange of ideas betters the nation in the process.”