Update: The Koch Brothers Settle With the Cato Institute

This post was updated on June 20, 2011, at 1:15 PM to reflect a statement by Cato chairman Bob Levy.

The billionaire Koch brothers and the Cato Institute have reached a settlement to resolve their bitter legal dispute over
control of the nation’s most prestigious libertarian think tank, according to a report in
National Journal.

“Looks like we’ve come to an accommodation with the Koch brothers,” Cato president
Ed Crane said Tuesday in an e-mail to staff, which
National Journal obtained. “It will be great to get all this unpleasantness behind us,” Crane told employees.

The conflict—which revolved around Cato’s unusual shareholders’ agreement—was detailed in a feature article in
The Washingtonian’s June issue.

According to
National Journal, Staffers will learn more about the settlement during a briefing Monday.

“The settlement involves an agreement to dissolve the shareholder agreement,”
National Journal reported. “In addition, Crane is expected to retire under a deal that allows him to select his successor, though the Koch
brothers could veto the choice.”

But in a statement, Cato chairman Bob Levy called the National Journal story “incorrect and incomplete.”

“We will have more to say about this on Monday,” Levy said in his statement. “Any assessment prior to that time would be without substantiation and very likely wrong in important respects.”

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.