Kochs Downplay Politics to Find Common Ground in Liberal Silicon Valley
The Kochs’ industrial behemoth is deepening its ties to the world of tech with a new VC fund and a Bay Area charm offensive.
Charles Koch
Photographer: Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Last year at Base Camp, the sleepaway summer gathering hosted by venerated venture firm Sequoia Capital, a surprise guest greeted the assembled entrepreneurs—Charles Koch, the chief executive officer of Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries Inc.
Dressed casually in blue jeans and a maroon button-down shirt, Koch sat under a large canvas tent alongside Stripe Inc.’s Patrick Collison. He spoke to the crowd of tech elites, gathered at Base Camp to hear talks by day and sing campfire songs by night, and espoused the virtues of empowering employees and building a good corporate culture, according to multiple people who were present. All of the people asked not to be identified because what happens at Base Camp is intended to stay at Base Camp.