The Kochs Respond to Our Story on the Cato Institute

Charles and David Koch have launched a new
website to articulate their positions as they continue their effort to
take control of the Cato Institute—the
nation’s most prestigious libertarian think tank.

The website, forabettercato.com, includes a lengthy response to
Washingtonian Magazine’s feature article on the
controversy, which appeared in the June issue. 

Unlike most nonprofits, Cato was established as a stock institution that gave its shareholders the power to appoint its board
of directors. After one of Cato’s four shareholders—William Niskanen—died in October of 2011, the
billionaire Koch brothers filed a lawsuit staking claim to his shares.
If successful, the maneuver
could allow the Koch brothers to amass two-thirds of Cato’s
outstanding stock and gain firm control of the think tank.

Cato’s management, which has pledged to aggressively
fight the Kochs’ efforts, has argued that the shares should go to
Niskanen’s
widow, not the Kochs.

Luke Mullins

Senior Writer

Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the city’s levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers’ attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregory’s ouster as moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, the collapse of Washington’s Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.