Famed Anti-Trump Billionaire David Koch Dead At Age 79

NBC News had the following to say:

David Koch, the billionaire conservative activist and philanthropist, who was lauded by the right and rebuked by the left, has died.

He was 79.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my brother David," Charles Koch said in a statement Friday. "Anyone who worked with David surely experienced his giant personality and passion for life."

David Koch blamed deteriorating health when he stepped down last year from Koch Industries,a Kansas-based energy and chemical corporation with an annual revenue of about $110 billion. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a masters in chemical engineering.

Charles Koch, who also has engineering degrees from MIT, is the company's chairman and chief executive officer.

The two, along with their brothers, Frederick and Bill, inherited the business when their father, who founded it, died in 1967. Frederick and Bill sold their stake in 1983 and in 1998 pursued an unsuccessful lawsuit against David and Charles, claiming they were cheated out of more than $1 billion when they relinquished their shares. David and Bill were twins.

The brothers were tied as 11th richest in the world this year in a ranking by Forbes. At the time of his death, David Koch was worth $42.4 billion.

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With the wealth from their business, the Koch brothers helped to build a massive conservative network of donors for organizations that work to mobilize voters and sway elected officials in support of libertarian-leaning economic policies.

They founded the nonprofit Americans for Prosperity, which has spent more than $1 billion over the past several elections to support candidates who adhere to their free-market, small-government, libertarian ideals. While they distanced themselves from the movement, touting instead classic libertarian ideals, the brothers are also credited with helping to fuel the Tea Party.

While celebrated on the right, the Koch brothers are often regarded by Democrats as a symbol for the corrupting force of corporate money in American politics.

Will he be missed?

The reaction online was....how should I put this gently.....not kind.