The David H. Koch Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of the late David H. Koch, who owned 42 percent of the shares of privately held Koch Industries, an industrial conglomerate. Koch willed his shares to his widow, Julia Koch, and their three children. Forbes estimated in 2022 that the value of these shares was $60 billion, making Julia Koch the third richest woman in the world. 1
Namesake
David H. Koch, the brother of fellow libertarian businessman-philanthropist Charles Koch, was a major philanthropic donor, giving over $1 billion to cancer research, hospitals, and the performing arts. In 2015 a spokesman for David Koch, Ken Spain, told the Washington Post that “David Koch and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation have pledged or contributed $1.2 billion” to the causes Koch supported. 2
Foundation Grantmaking
In 2011, the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation gave $1.5 million to the Reason Foundation, making it the second largest contributor to the libertarian think tank and magazine publisher behind the Sarah Scaife Foundation. 3
In 2017, the foundation reported giving $10 million to the City Center for Music and Dance to support renovations to the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York City, $1 million to the cold Spring Laboratory, and over $100,000 to three right-leaning public policy organizations: Pacific Research Institute ($150,000), Bill of Rights Institute ($200,000) and Federalist Society ($200,000). 4
In 2019, the foundation reported that it had received $7.2 million in revenue and made no grants. 5
References
- Rachel Sandler, “The Richest Women In The World 2022,” Forbes, April 25, 2022.
- Colby Itkowitz, “Scientists to Smithsonian: Cut Ties With Koch Brothers,” Washington Post, March 24, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/03/24/scientists-to-smithsonian-cut-ties-with-koch-brothers/ (accessed July 19, 2022)
- James B. Stewart, How Broccoli Landed on Supreme Court Menu, New York Times, June 14, 2012.
- 2017 David H. Koch Charitable Foundation form 990.
- 2019 David H. Koch Charitable foundation form 990.