David Koch Bio
David Koch is 78 years old American businessman known for being the vice president of Koch Industries, which is one of the second-largest privately held company in the United States.
He is also a political activist, philanthropist and a chemical engineer by profession.
Early Life
David Koch was born on 3rd May 1940 in Wichita, Kansas as David Hamilton Koch to Mary Robinson and Fred C. Koch. He was raised in his hometown with his three brothers; Frederick, Charles and Bill Koch.
His father was a chemical engineer and used to own a company named Rock Island Oil & Refining Company.
For education, he attended Deerfield Academy prep school in Massachusetts and later on received his bachelor's and master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963.
While being in school he was also engaged in sports further playing basketball at MIIT for three years.
Career
David started his career by inheriting his father’s company under the guidance of his elder brother Charles Koch in 1970. He was initially appointed as the technical- services manager.
His work gained him the president post at his own division renaming it to Chemical Technology Group in 1979.
David and his brother Charles own 42% of Koch Industries and even went through the phase of lawsuit placed by their own brothers; Bill and Frederick on the ownership matter.
He worked with his brother Charles in the company to expand the company in diverse fields such as manufacturing, refining, and distribution of chemicals, petroleum, energy, polymers, minerals, fiber, intermediates, fertilizers, pulp, and paper.
David was also named as the ninth wealthiest person in the world in 2014. As a philanthropist and cancer survivor, he has donated a huge sum of money to contribute to medical research.
He also contributed around $100 million to MIIT for the construction of a new research and technology facility.
In 1980, he was also placed as the Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate in the U.S. presidential election but broke with the party in 1984 on their decision of supporting the elimination of all taxes and since then he is a Republican.
David also serves on the boards of more than 20 non-profit corporations some of them include the National Cancer Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute, Rockefeller University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Aspen Institute with many more.
He has recently announced his retirement from the Koch Industries in June 2018 due to day by day declining health issues and still holds the position of being the 12th richest person in the world as ranked in June 2018.
Personal Life
He got married to Julia Margaret Flesher in 1996 and is the father of three children; Mary Julia Koch, David Koch Jr., and John Mark Koch.
Net Worth
It is estimated to be around US$50.2 billion as on June 2018.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koch
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/27/death-destruction-david-koch-legacy
https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-koch/