USA TODAY International Edition
NOT TALKING TO CANDIDATES KOCH HAS NO PLANS TO BACK PRIMARY CANDIDATE
Influential in worlds of business and politics, Charles Koch says it takes more than talk to be an effective leader; Republicans have to show they can follow through
Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch said Wednesday he’s unlikely to back a candidate in the crowded Republican presidential primary, the latest sign that one of the most influential figures in conservative politics seems less than enthusiastic about his choices.
“I have no plans to support anybody in the primary now,” Koch told USA TODAY.
Asked what he wants to hear from Republican contenders vying for his support, Koch said, “It’s not only what they say.
“If they start saying things we think are beneficial overall and will change the trajectory of the country, then that would be good, but we have to believe also they’ll follow through on it, and by and large, candidates don’t do that.”
Koch acknowledged that the vast policy and political network he helps oversee with his New York- based brother, David, might exceed his fundraising expectations before the presidential and congressional elections.
In recent weeks, the Kansasbased executive has downplayed what his organization might spend before the end of 2016, saying his network of about 450 donors might raise $ 750 million, down from an earlier estimate of $ 889 million over two years.
Wednesday, he said it’s “possible” that the network could hit its original target and says the network’s fundraising team disagrees with his lower assessment.
He said he’s likely to help a Republican presidential candidate in the general election.
In April, Koch told USA TODAY that his political network could enter the Republican primary for the first time and was weighing supporting one or more contenders from a list of five candidates — former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In the months since, Walker has dropped out after struggling financially, and Bush and Paul have seen their standing in the polls fall. Wednesday, Koch refused to discuss any candidates by name. “When we do, it’s totally blown out of proportion,” he said.
Koch, who insists he’s not focused on politics, said he has not spoken to any presidential contenders since August when Bush, Walker, Rubio, Cruz and former Hewlett- Packard CEO Carly Fiorina appeared at a donors’ seminar in Southern California staged by Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the network’s umbrella organization.
“My brother talks to them a lot more,” Koch said Wednesday. “Being in New York, it’s easier for everybody to come and see him. He’s more interested in the political side.” Although Koch insists he is not engaged in politics, the 80- yearold mogul occupies a unique place on the political and business landscape. As CEO of Koch Industries, he runs an industrial conglomerate that is the secondlargest privately held company in the nation, making everything from Lycra to Dixie paper cups. He and his brother, David, preside over an expanding political and policy network that invests heavily in think- tanks, universities, grass- roots groups and charitable organizations to advance their free- market agenda.
Each brother is worth more than $ 42 billion, and they are tied as the sixth- richest people in the world, according to Forbes.
Last year alone, Koch said, he donated $ 106 million to his foundations and $ 5 million to political ventures before the 2014 midterm election. This year, Koch said he has donated $ 48 million to non- profit groups but virtually nothing to candidates for office.
Koch said “it’s not assured” that he will repeat his $ 5 million political donation in the 2016 races. “I want to see whether somebody is going to make a difference,” he said.
Koch, who largely has steered clear of media interviews during his decades at the helm of Koch Industries, has been on a publicity blitz to promote his company and his new book, Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World’s Most Successful Companies, and to recast his public image.
The book, which mixes bits of personal stories and family history with his management theories, offers a look at the underlying beliefs that drive Koch’s business practices and political activism. He argues that individuals, businesses and society are better off when they are free to pursue their own interests. Businesses have “good profit” when they “create value for others” without seeking an unfair advantages or acting unethically, he says.
He said a goal in writing the book, his second, was to share “the principles and values” that have transformed his life — ranging from the ways he’s sought to apply free- market ideas to the company he’s run since 1967 to his father and company founder Fred Koch’s insistence on hard work. ( Despite his family’s wealth, Koch said his youth was spent digging post holes, shoveling wheat into grain elevators and other manual labor.) CRITICISM MOUNTS As Koch seeks more publicity, his detractors have stepped up their criticism, arguing that his freemarket approach is self- serving, aimed at installing Republicans who are less inclined to regulate industrial concerns such as his.
American Bridge, a Democratic group devoted to uncovering politically damaging information about Republicans, has 10 staffers dedicated to researching the Kochs. Every month, American Bridge shares anti- Koch talking points with other liberal groups.
“Despite their PR campaign to soften their image from the greedy, power- hungry billionaires they really are, the Koch brothers’ actions and agenda will be on the center stage,” said American Bridge spokeswoman Regan Page.
Democrats train their fire on journalists who interact with the Kochs. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nev., a longtime foe of the brothers, took to the Senate floor to mock a recent interview Charles and David Koch conducted with MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Reid accused media outlets of being “too intimidated” by the wealthy brothers to hold them “accountable for their nefarious actions.”
Koch said Democrats seek to “shut us down and intimidate us” and likened their actions to what he called attempts to limit free speech on college campuses.
He specifically cited Yale University, where students are engaged in an intense debate about free speech and racial tensions on campuses after a lecturer sent an email objecting to a push to limit insensitive Halloween costumes.
Koch said he is concerned that speakers with controversial opinions increasingly are barred from college campuses.
“Universities are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas and encourage different thinking, not, ‘ Oh, we don’t want any student to be uncomfortable,’ ” Koch said. “Well, you want all the students to be uncomfortable because they are exposed to new and different ideas that challenge the way they are thinking to help them develop thinking skills.”
Koch has invested heavily in promoting his ideas on college campuses. A recent Center for Public Integrity review of IRS filings found that two charitable foundations Koch bankrolls sent more than $ 19.3 million to 210 college campuses as his organizations have sought to fund economic research, offer scholarships and underwrite courses that support his libertarian economic policies.
Koch’s investment in academia has spawned an Unkoch My Campus movement, whose organizers sponsored a day of action last week at dozens of campuses, aimed at unmasking the involvement of the Kochs and other corporate interests at their schools.
“Bring ’ em on,” Koch said. “Let’s have a free and open debate. That’s what a free society is all about.”
“I want to see whether somebody is going to make a difference.”
Charles Koch