David Koch Dies at 79

Billionaire conservative activist and philanthropist, David Koch died at 79. He was lauded by the right and rebuked by the left.

His brother Charles Koch announced the passing of David in a statement on Friday.

He pointed out that anyone worked with David surely experienced his giant personality and passion for life.

Charles Koch has not revealed how his brother died. He blamed deteriorating health when he stepped down last year from Koch Industries.

Koch Industries is a Kansas-based energy and chemical corporation. It achieves an annual revenue of about $110 billion.

Koch regarded as the more gregarious of the two brothers, served as the executive vice president of Koch Industries.

He got a master degree in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Charles Koch is Koch Industries` chairman and chief executive officer. He has also engineering degrees from MIT

At the moment he died, David Koch was worth $42.4 billion.

With the wealth from the two brothers` business, they established a massive conservative network of donors for organizations.

Such organization work to mobilize voters and sway elected officials in support of libertarian-leaning economic policies.

The Koch`s founded the nonprofit Americans for Prosperity. They spent more than $1 billion over the past several elections to support candidates who adhere to their free-market and small-government.

While they distanced themselves from the movement, touting instead classic libertarian ideals, they credited with helping to fuel Tea party.

The brothers are often regarded by Democrats as a symbol of the corrupting force of corporate money in American politics.

Koch money was used in fighting former President Obama's health care initiatives and given to groups that deny climate change.

Such groups also denied the undercut unions and oppose gun laws. Their money also contributed to the prominence and volume of issue-oriented political television ads.