Koch Brothers Battle For Control Of Libertarian Think Tank Co-Founded 40yrs ago by Charles Koch
Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch launched a legal battle Wednesday over control of the Cato Institute, the influential libertarian think tank one of them helped found nearly 40 years ago.
The Kochs filed a lawsuit in Kansas, where the institute was created, demanding that the widow of its longtime chairman give back his shares of the nonprofit company.
In a copy of the lawsuit [PDF] posted online by Politico, the Kochs say they believe the widow of former chairman William Niskanen, who died in October, is barred from hanging onto his shares based on an agreement Niskanen signed when he joined the think tank in 1985.
The suit provides a look behind the scenes of the influential organization as well as the lives of its wealthy leaders.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/koch_brothers_battle_for_control_of_cato_institute.php?ref=fpa
David and Charles have funded conservative and libertarian policy and advocacy groups in the United States.[7] Since the 1980s the Koch foundations have given more than $100 million to such organizations, among these think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, as well as more recently Americans for Prosperity.[8] Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are Koch-linked organizations that have been linked to the Tea Party movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_family
Their dad, Fred Koch also helped found the John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic[1][2] and personal freedom.[3] It has been described as radical right-wing.
One of the founding members[22][23][24] was Fred Koch,[25] founder of Koch Industries, one of the largest private corporations in America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society