David Koch died on August 23, 2019.
In his final years, David H. Koch (1940-2019) was the richest person living in New York City, ahead of Michael Bloomberg. In addition to his Park Avenue residence, he has homes in Aspen, CO; Southampton, NY; and Palm Beach, FL. Though he’s donated millions to conservative, libertarian organizations, David Koch has only garnered public attention for his non-political philanthropy.
Regarding a $100 million naming gift to the New York City Opera and Ballet, Koch explained “I could afford it.… And, of course, there are beautiful girls.” A few of his namesakes include the new David H. Koch Theater at New York’s Lincoln Center, the David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing in New York’s American Natural History Museum, and the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum in Washington D.C.
David Koch was the 1980 Vice Presidential candidate for the anti-regulatory Libertarian Party. Currently, David Koch is on the Board of Directors for the Cato Institute as well as the Reason Foundation, two right-wing, climate-denier think-tanks. He was a founding member and Chairman of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, an astroturf group that opposes climate solutions and clean energy.
This post was edited on August 26, 2019, to change language in order to reflect David Koch’s death.
