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The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008
David H. Koch
Rank: 17
Total amount committed in 2008: $100-million
Location: New York, New York
Source of wealth: Oil
Donor's background: Mr. Koch is executive vice president of Koch Industries, an oil-and-gas refinery and chemicals company in Wichita, Kan., that was founded by his father, Frederick C. Koch.
Mr. Koch, 68, pledged $100-million to a joint capital campaign at the New York City Ballet and New York City Opera to raise money for the New York State Theater, which is home to both the ballet company and the opera company's New York performances.
The City Center of Music and Drama, in New York, oversees the management of the New York State Theater, and will receive and administer the money.
The donations, Mr. Koch said, must go toward refurbishing the theater and establishing an endowment for it. He stipulated that income from the endowment should be used to pay for the theater's future maintenance.
Mr. Koch said he is donating the money because he loves the theater, and after attending performances there for the last 40 years, he has noticed that the interior of the building has become worn out.
"Renovation is long overdue, and since both the opera and the ballet boards have committed to the project, contributions are needed now," he wrote in an e-mail message to The Chronicle.
Of the pledged amount, Mr. Koch has already paid $15-million. He said he plans to pay $10-million a year for the next eight years and $5-million the final year. He said he expected all the money to be paid by 2018.
Mr. Koch serves on the boards of the American Museum of Natural History, the Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Rockefeller University, all of which are in New York. He also serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, both in Cambridge, Mass.; the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston; the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore; the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, in Washington; and other nonprofit organizations.
About These Data
The giving figures listed for each individual are based on donations announced to date by the donors or their beneficiaries. In cases of bequests, most of the figures are estimates because the wills have not been settled. For news of gift announcements in 2009, visit the America's Top Donors database.
If you know about a recent gift of $1-million or more that should be added to this directory, please send a message to gifts@philanthropy.com.