David Koch: the billionaire who reshaped US politics

David Koch, who has died aged 79, was a kind and generous man, a great benefactor of charitable causes and the arts. But his influence on political life was resented by many.

David H. Koch © Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

(Image credit: David H. Koch © Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Over five decades, Charles and David Koch grew their father's company, Koch Industries, into a sprawling empire operating oil pipelines and producing everything from fertilisers to paper cups, says the Financial Times. As the principal shareholders of the Wichita-based company (they latterly owned 42% each), the brothers became exceedingly rich. Last year, they were estimated to have a combined worth of $120bn, making them the world's eighth and ninth richest billionaires. The death of David last month changes the fraternal dynamic, says The Economist. It has also cast a spotlight on plutocracy in modern America.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.

She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.

Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.

She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.