David Koch: An American Hero

Recently, an article came out about David Koch in the Palm Beach Post about Koch attending a fundraiser to raise money for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Even though the title of the article was “David Koch intends to cure cancer in his lifetime and remake American politics” people seem to be picking up on his comments about the politics. The comment that seems to have gotten the most attention was when Koch claimed “If unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power”. He is absolutely right. Unions have been in decline since the 1950’s and have done little to protect the worker. I have often said that unions exist to protect the incompetent workers at the expense of highly skilled workers who could go elsewhere.

Koch has donated more than $750 million to good causes like cancer research, culture causes, and the arts. Despite this the media and other people claiming how much the Koch brothers give to conservative causes when David Koch has given far more to charity. For every dollar that he gives to political causes he gives $4 to charity. However, you could easily argue that the media coverage over his political donations gets four times more coverage than his charitable donations. In addition to this, he holds many seats on charitable boards.

One reason why David Koch might be interested is cancer research is because he himself suffers from prostate cancer. He was diagnosed in 1992 with prostate cancer. Since then he has been treated by Dr. Christopher Logothetis of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. As a side note M.D. Anderson has been consistently ranked number one for treating cancer and attracts people from all over the world. What is amazing is today is that even though David Koch has prostate cancer he is still able to be executive vice president of the second largest private company in America. A couple of decades ago this probably would have not been possible but with breakthroughs in medicine David Koch is able to live a healthy life. He has an incentive to fund prostate cancer research since he is suffering from it. However, the money Koch gives to prostate cancer benefits millions of men who are not only now affected by prostate cancer but also the future men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Self-interest can work wonders even when it is trying to save your own life.

David Koch should be seen as an American hero. He is a man who worked hard for many years help building a successful company with his brother into the second largest private company in America. As a result each of the Koch brothers together are worth $25 billion. Many people point out that the brothers inherited the business from their father. However, it was Charles Koch and David Koch who turned around the company and I would argue made it more valuable then perhaps their father ever could. People also forget that just because you inherit something means you will be wealthy forever. Many people who inherit property or money can blow it quickly. I really hope the Koch brothers publish their autobiographies. This would be the only way both of them could set the record straight on the truth instead of having future journalists and historians rewrite history. Plus, wouldn’t you like to hear a tale of how two brothers amassed billions in personal wealth?