Koch Network Says Political Spending Is Under 10% of Efforts as Charles Koch's Lifetime Giving Tops $2 Billion

Chase Koch told TIME in a May 5 phone interview that the Koch network's political spending represents less than 10% of its overall efforts, with more than 90% directed toward community-based solutions. The 48-year-old from Wichita, Kansas, described his stewardship of the philanthropic efforts built by his father, Charles Koch, who is 90 years old and has been involved in social change for almost 60 years.

Charles Koch’s personal giving has now passed the $2 billion lifetime marker, and he quietly helped transfer almost $6 billion in nonvoting shares of his suite of companies to a libertarian web of nonprofits and social-change organizations.

The Koch Family is, by some estimates, among the five richest on the planet with about $150 billion in worth, just ahead of the Saudi Royal Family. Chase Koch’s Key Change initiative and his Believe in People organization have already churned out more than $400 million in projects. Stand Together has cobbled together an unlikely coalition of business titans, celebrities, and community activists.

It works on criminal justice reform, education inequality, lowercase-L liberalism, and uppercase-C capitalism. The network still invests hundreds of millions of dollars in influencing elections. Its candidates have massive advantages through institutional endorsements, on-the-ground politicking, advertising dollars, and digital know-how.

“If you look at our overall efforts in politics, it's less than 10% of what we do across all the community efforts. Over 90% is community-based solutions,” Chase Koch said. Stand Together has 700 business leaders in all 50 states, supports over 300 community organizations, includes 90,000 educators, and has 4 million grassroots activists.

Time reported these figures reflect the scale of its community efforts. In the last five or six years the Koch network has helped 28 states get some form of school choice. Chase Koch said his father had him study Milton Friedman as a young man.

“Milton Friedman said the greatest mistake is to judge programs and projects based on intent, not results,” Chase Koch said. The network has worked with organizers Live Nation, iHeartMedia, and AEG to set up designated sober-supportive spaces at many big music festivals. Charles Koch helped set up a conversation about the war on drugs between Snoop Dogg and Charles Koch.

Stand Together met Scott Strode, founder of a group called The Phoenix in Colorado, when he was helping a few thousand people with three gyms. Scott Strode’s relapse rates were below 10%, which is order of magnitude better than the next-best addiction program alternative. Stand Together helped grow Scott Strode’s program to 1 Million Strong.

Stand Together believes it can grow the program to 10 million people in the next three years. Time reported the expansion leveraged business leaders, networks and capabilities to create a movement. Charles Koch has emphasized a principle-based approach that focuses on results over intent and bets on people closest to the problems they aim to solve.

The network applies business principles such as measuring return on investment, eliminating waste and continual pivoting to its social change work. Rather than operating in silos, Stand Together pursues comprehensive approaches that engage education, business and community leaders to build movements capable of nationwide impact.

Chase Koch said this community-based model, which the organization calls Stand Together, seeks movements of millions.

The approach draws from decades of learning in both business and social change. Charles Koch’s long tenure has informed a stewardship model designed to outlast any single leader, with Chase Koch leaning into his strengths while complementing them with a broader team.