The brothers, with profits from their Kansas-based company, have become a major source of support for conservative candidates and causes in American politics that will benefit their financial operations. Fred Koch, a great influence on his sons, was one of the 11 founders of the John Birch Society, a far-right advocacy group supporting anti-communism and limited government.
The family business was started by their father Fred, who developed a new method for the refinement of heavy crude oil into gasoline. These two brothers control Koch Industries, the second-largest privately owned company in the United States (with 2013 revenues of $115 billion). Most prominent among the family foundations enjoying this tax largess is that owned by Charles and David Koch. Moreover, unlike other entities engaged in electoral politics, 501(c)(4) organizations do not have to disclose the identities of their contributors. Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code authorizes the creation of tax exempt corporate entities devoted to “social welfare.” These entities are allowed to engage in electoral politics, and since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, they have done so with a vengeance.
She details how a handful of billionaire families have utilized tax-exempt private foundations to influence legislation and regulation to benefit their personal financial interests, ostensibly in the interest of “social welfare.” Jane Mayer has written a very disturbing book about the influence of big money (and I mean very big money) on American politics and society.
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