David Koch, Influential Conservative Billionaire, Dead At 79

David Koch, the influential billionaire conservative activist and philanthropist, has died at 79. “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my brother David,” Charles Koch said in a statement Friday. “Anyone who worked with David surely experienced his giant personality and passion for life.” A cause of death was not immediately clear, but the late Koch had stepped down from Koch Industries, the family’s manufacturing and chemical conglomerate, in 2018 amid declining health. “Twenty-seven years ago, David was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and given a grim prognosis of a few years to live,” his brother said Friday. “David liked to say that a combination of brilliant doctors, state-of-the-art medications, and his own stubbornness kept the cancer at bay. We can all be grateful that it did,” he added, “because he was able to touch so many more lives as a result.”