{"id":1108,"date":"2019-08-26T01:16:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T01:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/histories-and-mysteries\/david-koch-and-prostate-cancer\/"},"modified":"2019-08-26T01:16:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T01:16:00","slug":"david-koch-and-prostate-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=1108","title":{"rendered":"David Koch and Prostate Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"\"David Koch was incredibly gifted, both genetically and financially, and became a chemical engineer, businessman, political activist, and philanthropist.  With one of his brothers, he grew a vast inheritance into joint ownership of Koch Industries, and at the time of his death he was the 11th richest person in the world, worth $48 billion.  He attended excellent schools, Deerfield Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1962 and a master's degree in chemical engineering in 1963. He was one of the best basketball players ever to play for MIT, averaging 21 points per game, and for many years he held their single-game scoring record of 41 points. <\/div>\n
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\n\tIn 1992, at age 52, he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that had already spread beyond the prostate.  Most cases of prostate cancer never kill a person, but the younger the age at first diagnosis, the more likely it is to be the aggressive type of the cancer that spreads through the body.  Koch was treated many times with radiation, surgery and anti-male hormones, but the cancer always came back. His  doctors told him he had only a few years to live, yet he fought the disease for 27 years.  His brother recalled that, "David liked to say that a combination of brilliant doctors, state of the art medications and his own stubbornness kept the cancer at bay."  He died at age 79 on August 23, 2019, presumably from the progression of his prostate cancer. <\/div>\n
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\n\tA Life of Politics and Philanthropy <\/strong><\/div>\n
\n\tDavid Koch was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1940.  His father, Fred Chase Koch, was a chemical engineer and entrepreneur who founded an oil refinery that eventually became Koch Industries, which is listed by Forbes Magazine<\/em> as the second-largest privately held company in the United States.  After Fred Koch's death in 1967 and many legal battles, his second son, Charles, primarily ran the company from Kansas, while David set up an office in New York City.  Charles and David bought out their other two brothers, Frederick and William.  David and Charles became co-owners of Koch Industries, each with 42 percent of the company.  They both used their wealth to support the Libertarian and Republican parties and candidates.  In 1980, David Koch was the vice-presidential running mate in the unsuccessful campaign of Ed Clark, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. President. The ticket received one percent of the votes.  In 1984, Koch broke with the Libertarian party and became a Republican.  At age 78, he retired from Koch Industries "due to declining health."<\/div>\n
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\n\tKoch was listed in Forbes<\/em> as the richest person in New York City, and was a highly-visible supporter of many cultural institutions there including Lincoln Center, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York City Ballet.  After his diagnosis with prostate cancer, he donated more than $400 million to various organizations for medical research, including $185 million to MIT to establish the Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.<\/div>\n
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