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The Koch family ( ) is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities in the Koch network and their control of Koch Inc, the 2nd largest privately owned company in the United States (with 2019 revenues of $115 billion). The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new cracking method for the Oil refinery of heavy crude oil into gasoline. Fred's four sons against each other over their interests in the business during the 1980s and 1990s.
By 2019, Charles Koch and David Koch, commonly referred to as the Koch brothers, were the only ones of Fred Koch's four sons still with Koch Industries. Charles and David Koch built a political network of libertarian and conservative donors, and the brothers funneled financial revenue into television and multi-media advertising. David Koch died in August 2019.
The Koch brothers indicated that they intended to raise almost $880 million in support of candidates in the 2016 elections, and have given more than $100 million
to conservative and libertarian policy and advocacy groups in the United States,
A focus of their political activities has been the support of think tanks and institutions which deny or downplay man-made climate change or its impact.
Americans for Prosperity, founded by David Koch, has been reported by Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico to be one of the main nonprofit groups assisting the Tea Party movement; but in 2010, Koch spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia distanced the Kochs from the tea parties and FreedomWorks saying that "no funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties". According to the Koch Family Foundations and Philanthropy website, "the foundations and the individual giving of Koch family members" have financially supported organizations "fostering entrepreneurship, education, human services, at-risk youth, arts and culture, and medical research".
Former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, has pointed out that the Koch brothers have supported more than just what are generally considered conservative causes. They opposed George W. Bush on many issues, are pro-choice, support same sex marriage, and worked closely with the President Obama for the Obama administration's criminal justice reform initiatives that aligned with their own. "Charles Koch sits down with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski to discuss opposing George W. Bush, what motivates him politically, the 2016 GOP field and money in politics", Morning Joe, October 4, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015
In early 2018, political advocacy groups linked to the Koch family pledged to spend $400 million on the 2018 midterm elections, including $20 million to promote the H.R.1 – An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018 to skeptical voters.
According to a report by American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop, the Koch brothers have built "what may be the best funded, multifaceted, public policy, political and educational presence in the nation today". Opposition to the government spending any money on climate change is among this network's activities. Anthropogenic climate change denier Willie Soon received more than $500,000 from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and a trust used by the Kochs. The primary recipients of Koch contributions, including Americans for Prosperity, The Heritage Foundation, and the Manhattan Institute, actively oppose clean energy and carbon legislation and who reject climate science. In fact, the Koch brothers were involved in the first known gathering of climate change deniers in 1991. Organized by the Cato Institute, the meeting shifted the position of the Republican Party on climate change. While George H. W. Bush had still supported research into global warming under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, acceptance of scientific evidence on climate change began to weaken due to the Koch family's influence.
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