Koch Giving and Charities: Given Away $435 Million

Source: LIFE Magazine 

So far David Koch has given away $435 million to things like the arts, medical research, and the theater. I covered David Koch’s giving in this post. The media often complains that David and Charles Koch really don’t donate money to charity but however give it to organizations like Americans for Prosperity or the CATO Institute which really are not charities. What is even more interesting is that people claim that the Koch brothers want to just continue to pollute more so they make more money. I have a few problems with this. First do the Koch brothers breathe different air than the rest of us? Pollution has actually been declining since 1980 as this chart shows.  Second, promoting free market economics is actually not in their self interest because then Koch Industries would face more competition. From what I understand the Koch brothers care more about promoting individual liberty and making everyone better off as a whole than to serve their own self-interests. Of the $435 million has actually gone to charities so let’s break it down:

$185 million- MIT Total ($100 million for David Koch Cancer Center (David Koch is a survivor of prostate cancer)

$100 million- New York State Theater

$65 million- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)

$35 million- Smithsonian Institution (dinosaur hall)

$20 million- John Hopkins University (new cancer building)

$20 million- American Museum of Natural History (New York)

$10 million- Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York)

$435 million (Total)

I am curious why this has not got covered on CNN, MSNBC, or even Fox News. It is interesting that liberals complain about David Koch yet he is help funding medical research and a large contributor to the arts. Next time people complain about David Koch they should stand up and clap for his enormous generosity.