Chase Koch

After David Koch's death, his nephew Chase, son of Charles, is in line to take his uncle's place as a key figure in the Koch network. Politico Magazine said in December 2018 that Chase would likely shift his family's legacy away from conservative policy and toward broader libertarian ideals. With all of David's children currently under the age of 25, and Charles' eldest child, Elizabeth, uninvolved in the Koch Industries or network at large, that role falls to Chase Koch, 42, Charles' son. Chase has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican congressional candidates, including Senators Mike Lee of Utah, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Tim Scott of South Carolina. He has not given any money to President Donald Trump's campaigns, which isn't surprising, given that his father and uncle have taken overt steps to distance themselves from the GOP after Trump won the primary, and oppose many of his proposed ideas and policies, including his tariffs, travel ban, and stance on immigration. What he lacks in notoriety, Chase has made up for in his family's business itself, spearheading its venture-capital arm, Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) which he started in late 2017, after spending 14 years in other full-time positions. Chase graduated from Texas A&M in the early 2000s with a degree in marketing, unlike his father, uncle, and grandfather, the dynasty-builder Fred Koch, who all studied engineering at MIT. Chase has invested in criminal justice reform initiatives, including getting companies to hire former convicts. In July 2019, Chase told Barron's that KDT had just opened an Israel office because of the country's tech scene and emerging entrepreneurs. KDT is on its second year of operation, and one of its major partnerships has been with Insightec, an Israeli company that pioneered MRI-guided focused ultrasound technology that avoids making incisions. The Koch family owns about 84 percent of Koch Industries' $139 billion in assets, which grew from the $21 million worth it had in 1961, when Chase's father first joined. Like his father before him, Chase has taken on an extremely active role in his children's education, with him and his wife Annie founding a Montessori-style school for their two kids in Wichita. The private school, which is called "Wonder," and operates on the Wichita State University campus, opened up 35 slots for students last fall and received over 500 interested applicants. There are plans for it to expand into a high school. Chase convened his group of wealthy young professionals 2018, before the midterms, to tour the Wonder campus in Wichita. With a focus on social justice, education, and emerging technologies, Chase appears poised to thrust his family's legacy into the future.