Julia Koch
American philanthropist and Koch, Inc. board member; widow of David Koch and co-heir, with her children, to his stake in Koch, Inc.
| Julia Koch
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 4 1962 (age 64 years old (as of 2026)
) United States |
| Occupation | philanthropist; company director |
| Known for | Co-owner (with her children) of a stake in Koch, Inc.; Julia Koch Family Foundation |
| Spouse(s) | David Koch (m. 1996; died 2019) |
| Education | University of Central Arkansas |
Julia Koch (born 12 April 1962) is an American philanthropist and company director, the widow of the industrialist David Koch. With her three children she inherited his 42% stake in Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries).[1] Forbes lists the fortune as a single entry, "Julia Koch & family". On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Julia Koch and her family 23rd in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$84.63 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Koch, Inc..[1][2] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Julia Koch and her family 24th, at US$81.2 billion.[3]
Early life and education
Forbes gives her date of birth as 12 April 1962, describes her as a native of Iowa and lists a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Arkansas.[1] According to Forbes she moved to New York City in the 1980s and worked as an assistant to the fashion designer Adolfo, dealing with many of his well-known clients.[1]
Career and business interests
Forbes says she met David Koch on a blind date in 1991 and that they married in 1996. He died in 2019 at the age of 79.[1] She sits on the boards of Koch, Inc., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1] The David H. Koch Foundation also lists her on the board of Venetian Heritage.[4]
In June 2024 Joe Tsai, Clara Wu Tsai and their family agreed to sell Julia Koch and her children a minority stake in BSE Global, the parent company of the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Liberty and the Barclays Center, subject to approval by the NBA Board of Governors. The terms were not disclosed.[5] Forbes reports that the family paid nearly US$700 million for 15% of BSE Global, and that in 2025 it bought 10% of the NFL's New York Giants in a deal that valued the team at more than US$10 billion.[1]
Wealth
Forbes attributes the family's wealth to the 42% stake in Koch, Inc. that Julia Koch and her three children inherited from David Koch.[1] In October 2022 Inside Philanthropy noted that she had overtaken Alice Walton as the richest woman in America on Forbes's estimates.[6]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 7 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2020. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[3][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | – | – | 13 | 41.0 |
| 2020 | 18 | 38.2 | 15 | 45.0 |
| 2021 | 27 | 46.4 | 16 | 51.0 |
| 2022 | 21 | 60.0 | 13 | 56.0 |
| 2023 | 17 | 59.0 | 15 | 59.8 |
| 2024 | 23 | 64.3 | 16 | 74.2 |
| 2025 | 21 | 74.2 | 16 | 81.2 |
| 2026 | 24 | 81.2 | 17 | 84.6 |
Philanthropy
Julia Koch is president of the David H. Koch Foundation; Inside Philanthropy reports that the foundation was launched in 1982.[4][6] The foundation's website lists gifts made by her personally or with her husband. These include US$10 million, given with David Koch, for a clinical research unit at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford; US$3 million to NYU Langone for the Julia Flesher Koch Professorship of Orthopedic Surgery; and US$1.4 million for an endowed scholarship at NYU's medical school.[4] In April 2012 Mount Sinai announced a US$10 million commitment from David H. Koch that created the David H. and Julia Koch Research Program in Food Allergy Therapeutics at its Jaffe Food Allergy Institute.[7]
In 2023 she and her children founded the Julia Koch Family Foundation.[5][8] The foundation says that, through the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation and their personal giving, David and Julia Koch gave more than US$1.3 billion to cancer research, medical centres, education and the arts. It lists its own early commitments as a new ambulatory care centre for NYU Langone Health in Palm Beach, Florida, support for the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an investment in food allergy treatment through Latitude, and community grants for education and sports.[9] In February 2024 The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that she had given US$75 million through the foundation for a new outpatient centre in West Palm Beach, named after the donor and due to open in 2026.[10] Inside Philanthropy noted that in 2023 the David H. Koch Foundation gave US$5 million to the Cox Science Center in West Palm Beach.[8] IRS data processed by ProPublica show that the Julia Koch Family Foundation is registered under section 501(c)(4) and files Form 990 rather than a private-foundation return.[11] The table summarises the filings of both foundations.[11][12]
| Foundation | Form | Tax year | Total assets, end of year | Grants and contributions paid | Contributions received |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julia Koch Family Foundation | 990 | 2023 | 50.2 | n/a | 55.0 |
| David H Koch Charitable Foundation | 990-PF | 2023 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| David H Koch Charitable Foundation | 990-PF | 2022 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 0.0 |
| David H Koch Charitable Foundation | 990-PF | 2021 | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| David H Koch Charitable Foundation | 990-PF | 2020 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
Political activity
Inside Philanthropy wrote in 2022 that, although she was not a political mega-donor, she leaned to the right in her political giving, having donated to Ron DeSantis and Mehmet Oz in 2022.[6] It also observed that, since David Koch's death, she had not directed her fortune to obviously conservative or libertarian causes, concentrating instead on the arts and health.[6]
The federal records below are limited to those filed under her name that give the David H. Koch Foundation or Koch, Inc. as employer. They show contributions to Mehmet Oz's 2022 Senate campaign and to the Koch, Inc. political action committee (KOCHPAC). Records under the same name with other or no employer details were excluded because they could not be attributed to her with confidence.[13]
Across the 3 non-memo records retrieved for the 2022–2026 cycles, the filtered total is US$15,800 (a lower bound). The largest recipient committees, as named in the filings, were KOCH, INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KOCHPAC) (US$10,000), DOCTOR OZ FOR SENATE (US$5,800).[13]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $5,800 | 1 | DOCTOR OZ FOR SENATE ($5,800) |
| 2024 | $5,000 | 1 | KOCH, INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KOCHPAC) ($5,000) |
| 2026 | $5,000 | 1 | KOCH, INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KOCHPAC) ($5,000) |
Family
Forbes and the BSE Global announcement record that she has three children. The announcement names them as David Jr. and Mary Julia, who are adults, and John.[1][5] David Koch Jr. and Mary Julia Koch are listed on the Julia Koch Family Foundation's website.[14]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
No personal role with government was found. Political giving under her name is summarised above.[13][6]
Other international links
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Julia Koch & family (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/julia-koch/) Forbes, live record, read 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 David H. Koch Foundation, Julia Koch – President, David H. Koch Foundation David H. Koch Foundation, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Brooklyn Nets, BSE Global announce Julia Koch and family as new strategic partners NBA.com, 19 June 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Ade Adeniji, A New Koch in Town: Four Things to Note About the Philanthropy of America’s Richest Woman Inside Philanthropy, 1 October 2022, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Mount Sinai, David H. Koch Donates $10 Million to Mount Sinai’s Jaffe Food Allergy Institute Mount Sinai Health System, 10 April 2012, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ade Adeniji, Julia Koch Has a New Foundation. What Can We Expect From the Family’s Future Giving? Inside Philanthropy, 2 April 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Julia Koch Family Foundation, About the Julia Koch Family Foundation Julia Koch Family Foundation, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Maria Di Mento, Julia Koch Gives $75 Million for New West Palm Beach Medical Center The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 26 February 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Julia Koch Family Foundation (EIN 92-1599313) – Nonprofit Explorer record with IRS filing data ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, IRS filings as processed by ProPublica, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, David H Koch Charitable Foundation (EIN 48-0926946) – Nonprofit Explorer record with IRS filing data ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, IRS filings as processed by ProPublica, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "KOCH, JULIA"; 2026 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried together with the same parameters; top 100 records by amount; compiler filtered records by employer/occupation and name and excluded memo entries U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Julia Koch Family Foundation, About Julia Koch, Founder and Chair Julia Koch Family Foundation, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.