Four days before this year’s presidential election, Charles Koch—the voluble Kansas billionaire who has spent a fortune injecting his particular brand of prairie libertarianism into the American political debate—pauses at the other end of the line when asked if he will vote for Donald Trump or Joe Biden.
“That’s a very divisive question, because however I answer, that’s going to upset a bunch of people,” he says. “That’s why there’s a secret ballot.”
Mr. Koch, whom Forbes calls the 15th-wealthiest man in the U.S., says he isn’t interested in more division. At age 85, he says, he is turning his attention to building bridges across partisan divides to find answers to sprawling social problems such as poverty, addiction, recidivism, gang violence and homelessness. His critics are skeptical, noting that his fierce Republican partisanship over the years blew up a lot of bridges.
Mr. Koch has written (with Brian Hooks) a new book, “Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World,” which will be published on Nov. 17. It is part mea culpa, part self-help guide and part road map toward a libertarian America. Along the way, the book traces Mr. Koch’s life from hardheaded adolescent to student, engineer, industrialist, tycoon and political mastermind. The book suggests that he wants to add one final act: philosopher and, he hopes, unifier.
The key to successful, long-term movements? “Unite a diversity of people behind a common goal,” Mr. Koch says. “That’s our approach today.”
Mr. Koch is still overseeing Koch Industries, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, and its 130,000 employees. He worked from home for a while when the pandemic began; he still avoids crowds and most public spaces, and wears a mask when he is around people.
His new book is the latest step in a yearslong process of rebranding (a word he doesn’t appreciate). Mr. Koch, it seems, doesn’t want to be forever known as a hard-driving partisan.
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