David Hamilton Koch (/ˈkoʊk/; born May 3, 1940) is an American businessman, philanthropist, political activist, and chemical engineer. He joined the family business Koch Industries, a conglomerate that is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, in 1970. He became president of the subsidiary Koch Engineering in 1979, and became a co-owner of Koch Industries, with older brother Charles, in 1983. He is now an executive vice president.[7]
Koch is an influential libertarian, having financed and run on the 1980 U.S. Libertarian Party presidential ticket and founded Citizens for a Sound Economy. Koch has contributed to several charities including Lincoln Center, Sloan Kettering, a fertility clinic at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the American Museum of Natural History's David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing.[8] The New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, home of the New York City Ballet was renamed the David H. Koch Theater in 2008 following a gift of 100 million dollars for the renovation of the theater. Condé Nast Portfolio described him as "one of the most generous but low-key philanthropists in America".[9] He and his brother Charles have also donated to political advocacy groups, including Americans for Prosperity,[3] and to political campaigns, mainly Republican.[10] He is a survivor of the USAir Flight 1493 crash in 1991. Koch is the fourth richest person in America as of 2012,[11] and the wealthiest resident of New York City as of 2013.[12] He is the ninth-wealthiest person in the world, as of 2014.[13]