David Hamilton Koch (/koʊk/ KOHK; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer.

Koch became a Republican in 1984; in 2012, he spent over $100 million in a failed bid to oppose the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Koch contributed to the Lincoln Center, Sloan Kettering, NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, and the Dinosaur Wing at the American Museum of Natural History.

His maternal ancestors included William Ingraham Kip, an Episcopal bishop; and Elizabeth Clementine Stedman, a writer.

He founded the company's New York City office and in 1979 he became the president of his own division, Koch Engineering, renamed Chemical Technology Group.

[14] The Clark–Koch ticket proposed to abolish Social Security, the Federal Reserve Board, welfare, minimum-wage laws, corporate taxes, all price supports and subsidies for agriculture and business, and U.S. Federal agencies including the SEC, EPA, ICC, FTC, OSHA, FBI, CIA, and DOE.

"[19] After the bid, according to journalist Brian Doherty's Radicals for Capitalism, Koch viewed politicians as "actors playing out a script".

[1][20] Koch credited the 1976 presidential campaign of Roger MacBride as his inspiration for getting involved in politics: Here was a great guy, advocating all the things I believed in.

[15]Koch gave his own vice presidential campaign $100,000 a month after being chosen as Ed Clark's running mate.

Subsequently, Koch shifted the bulk of his financial support to the Republican Party, though he continued to contribute to several Libertarian campaigns in local races.

[2][28] Koch said he wasn't sure if global warming was anthropogenic, and thought a warmer planet would be "good", with lengthened growing seasons mitigating problems caused by disappearing coastlines and mass migrations.

"[19] In an impromptu interview with the blog ThinkProgress, he was quoted as saying he would like the new, 2011 Republican Congress to "cut the hell out of spending, balance the budget, reduce regulations, and support business".

[1][2][43] The Koch brothers have been involved in blocking regulations and legislation to confront climate change since 1991, when the Cato Institute held the "Global Environmental Crisis: Science or Politics?

"[45] In August 2010, Jane Mayer wrote an article in The New Yorker on the political spending of David and Charles Koch.

It stated: "As their fortunes grew, Charles and David Koch became the primary underwriters of hard-line libertarian politics in America.

"[1] An opinion piece by journalist Yasha Levine in The New York Observer said Mayer's article had failed to mention that the Kochs' "free market philanthropy belies the immense profit they have made from corporate welfare".

[47][48] In July 2015, David and Charles Koch were commended by both President Obama and activist Anthony Van Jones for their bipartisan efforts to reform the prison system in the United States.

[49][50] For nearly 10 years, the Kochs advocated for several reforms within the criminal justice system which include reducing recidivism rates, simplifying the employment process for the rehabilitated, and defending private property from government seizures through asset forfeiture.

[52][53] In 2015, The Intercept reported that the Kochs' philanthropic efforts exist alongside continued funding of "tough-on-crime" political candidates and committees pushing for harsher sentencing.

[54] Writing in Political Research Associates, Kay Whitlock argues that the Kochs' avid support for measures such as mens rea or "criminal intent" reform exemplify "an agenda of deregulation and relief for 'overcriminalized' corporations and executives" rather than concern for individual rights of the accused.

[60] Koch had a lifelong interest in the arts, which he attributed to his mother's role in introducing him to opera and ballet during his childhood.

[62] According to The New York Times, Koch's gift was "transformative, enabling a full-scale renovation of the stage" that included "an enlarged orchestra pit that mechanically rises".

[64] Koch was the longest-serving trustee of the American Ballet Theatre,[61] serving on its board for 25 years[65] and contributing more than $6 million to the theater.

[73] In 2012, Koch contributed US$35 million to the Smithsonian to build a new dinosaur exhibition hall at the National Museum of Natural History.

[77] Koch said his biggest contributions go toward a "moon shot" campaign to finding the cure for cancer, according to his profile on Forbes.

[83][84] An eponym of the David H. Koch Chair of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the position is held by Dr. Jonathan Simons.

[85] In 2006, Koch gave $20 million to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore for cancer research.

[95] In February 1991, Koch was seriously injured as a passenger on board USAir Flight 1493 when it collided with another aircraft on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 35 people.

[98][99] The apartment "wasn't roomy enough" after the birth of their third child, so Koch sold it to billionaire Glenn Dubin in 2006 and moved with his family to 740 Park Avenue.