Brian hooks

president of The charles koch foundation & Stand together trust

As President of the Charles Koch Foundation and Chairman and CEO of Stand Together, Brian Hooks’s connections to the infamous Koch network run deep. The Koch network has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the climate denial movement over decades. Through his various roles in the Koch network, Hooks has assisted in the distribution of over $127 million towards organizations that aim to discredit climate science. In 2022, Stand Together financially supported several organizations that engage in climate denial and in 2020, the Charles Koch Foundation supported Davids Koch’s climate disinformation campaign by donating $17 million to 23 groups. Hooks’s current job is also to sanitize the Kochs’ legacy by supporting high-minded nonpartisan civic projects after decades of weaponizing their philanthropy to advance their fossil fuel energy company interests. Hooks has profited greatly from his endeavors against the planet, receiving a compensation of $2,290,095 from Stand Together Chamber of Commerce and other affiliated Koch-backed organizations in 2022. Over the last decade, he has been paid tens of millions of dollars by three Koch-connected organizations. 

  • Birthday: Unknown

    Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI

    Primary residence: Alexandria, VA 

    Current role: President of the Charles Koch Foundation and Chairman and CEO of Stand Together

    Net worth: At least $6.5 million (WealthX) 

    Total annual compensation in 2022: $2,290,095 from the Stand Together Chamber of Commerce (a 501(c)(6) association since 2012)

    Education: BA in Political Science from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (2000) 

    Board memberships, affiliations, and roles:

    • Director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

    • President of the Charles Koch Institute

    • Board member of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University

    • Board member of the Reason Foundation

    • Board member of The Just Trust

    • Board member of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) (WealthX)

    • Board Member at the Cosmos Institute (WealthX)

    Past roles: 

    Fun facts: 

    • Hooks co-authored a book with Charles Koch in 2020: Believe in People: Bottom Up Solutions for a Top Down World 

    • Hooks was a speaker at the Urban Institute’s Giving Innovation Summit in 2024

  • Environmental impacts of the Koch empire

    • Koch Industries has multiple oil refineries in various states throughout the United States, including Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota and has been dubbed as “one of the primary sources of carbon pollution in the United States.” Koch Industries has caused multiple environmental violations, one of which was for toxic chemical discharge from an oil refinery in Texas which cost the company $350 million in penalties.


    Lobbying against climate action

    • Koch Industries uses three of its foundations, including the Charles Koch Foundation, to push its lobbying efforts on climate change. 

    • The Charles Koch Foundation is the “primary vessel for philanthropic efforts” for Koch Industries. Through the three foundations, the Koch family has sent millions of dollars to “discredit climate science and EPA’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses.” 

    • As President of both the Foundation and the Charles Koch Institute, Brian Hooks has assisted in the distribution of over $127 million towards groups that have sought to weaken the science behind climate change for decades. 

    • In 2020, the Charles Koch Foundation continued to finance David’s Koch’s climate disinformation campaign by donating $17 million to 23 groups. 


    Promoting climate misinformation

    • George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, where Hooks’ was a senior staffer and is now a board member, has published studies that question the reliability of climate science and pushed back on the notion that climate change is man-made.

    • In 2022, Stand Together financially supported numerous organizations that engage in climate misinformation or climate denial, including the American Enterprise Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Federalist Society, and Fraser Institute. 

    • It pays to work for the Koch brothers: Brian Hooks has been paid millions each year in total compensation from various Koch entities. In 2022, the Koch’s formed Stand Together C4 Fund which has been tax exempt since April 2023 – the Kochs put in $100 million.

    • Stand Together Chamber of Commerce Inc made $275 million in revenue in 2022 and Hooks was paid $2,230,095 in total compensation. Stand Together Trust made $329,090,062 in net assets in 2022.

    • In 2019, Hooks received total compensation of $2,643,240 (with $1,258,123 from the Charles Koch Institute and $1,385,117 from the Stand Together Foundation). Between 2016 and 2019, Hooks received $3,569,702 in total compensation from the Charles Koch Institute. Between 2020 and 2022, after Hooks stopped being paid by the Charles Koch Institute, the Stand Together Chamber of Commerce paid him a total of $5,069,389 over three years.

    •  Hooks received salaries of $1,444,530 in 2021 and $1,334,764 in 2020 from the Stand Together Foundation. The Charles Koch Institute paid Hooks $1,258,123 in 2019, $933,315 in 2018, $594,933 in 2017, and $783,331 in 2016. Hooks also received $255,061 in compensation from the Koch Foundation in 2015.

    • Hooks has two residences, one in Alexandria, VA and one in Blue Hill, ME (WealthX).

    • Brian Hooks was featured on the TIME100 Next List in 2021, under the category “advocates.”

  • Brian Hooks’ role as president of the Charles Koch Foundation has encouraged widespread efforts to discredit climate change. The Koch brothers are key players within the polluter-industrial complex due to their large influence as the “second largest, privately owned company in America”, with most of their wealth coming from the fossil fuel industry. The Koch family has strong ties with think tanks, government organizations, and politicians, and are able to fight environmental policies and further conservative ideology within various groups. 

    • The Koch Network and the Koch brothers – Charles Koch and the late David Koch – have received significant pushback from environmental activists for their immense fortune and political influence. 

    • Less is commonly known about corporate cogs in the Koch machine, like Brian Hooks.

    • DeSmog has written profiles on Hooks and Stand Together. DeSmog also has an entire Koch Network Database with extensive research on people and organizations connected with the Kochs.  

    • For example, the UnKoch My Campus campaign works to protect higher education institutions from undue influence from mega-donors like the Kochs. 

      • In 2018, the campaign called out Brian Hook for a misleading statement he made about the Charles Koch Foundation’s transparency: “There has been a lot of mischaracterization of our grants in the past. The opportunity to be crystal-clear about how our foundation interacts with universities is a good opportunity.” 

      • UnKoch responded by challenging Hooks for proof that they “mischaracterized” any of the Koch Foundation’s agreements, saying:“Unless they are going to release all past agreements, and documentation for all their programs, Koch is not providing clarity. Until then, Mr. Hooks and the Koch Foundation are simply executing a strategic pivot to distract from the ways in which past and current donor agreements continue to violate academic principles and policies on potentially hundreds of campuses, and they are proposing that they be allowed to continue leveraging undue influence for private gain.”

    • “Each year, about one-third of the funds from our philanthropic community go to help organizations that support public policy — groups like Americans for Prosperity. That includes efforts to support the election of policymakers who will put people over politics and get good things done once elected, which makes up around 10 percent of the total funds spent.” –Hooks, 2020

    • “One of the big lessons we’ve taken as we looked at where we can be most effective is that uniting broad coalitions works much better than partisan politics.” –Hooks, 2019

    • On Stand Together: “For too many years, we’ve let people define us. Going forward, we’re going to define ourselves. This is really about helping to better define who we are. It’s a reflection of who we’ve become.” -Hooks, 2019

Connections within the Polluter Industrial Complex

What is the Polluter Industrial Complex?

  • Koch Industries 2024 Political Activity

    • Total Contributions: $27,766,055

    • Biggest Contributions (>10k)

      • $25,000,000 to Americans for Prosperity Action

      • $1,250,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund

      • $1,000,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund

      • $156,327 to the National Republican Congressional Committee

      • $81,013 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee

      • $50,000 to GOPAC

      • $19,015 to Nikki Haley (R)

      • $13,819 to Donald Trump (R)

      • $13,2000 to Jason Smith (R)

        • Lifetime environmental score: 2%

      • $10,000 to American Revival PAC


    Koch Industries 2022 Political Activity

    • Total Contributions: $28,623,080

    • Biggest Contributions (>25k)

      • $20,050,000 to Americans for Prosperity Action

      • $2,700,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund

      • $2,500,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund

      • $256,750 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee

      • $216,479 to the National Republican Congressional Committee

      • $110,000 to GOPAC

      • $75,000 to Opportunity Matters Fund

      • $25,000 to Black Bear PAC

      • $25,000 to OkieWay

  • PR Firms

    Edelman

    • The Charles Koch Foundation hired Edelman, the largest PR company in the world led by Richard Edelman, another 2024 Climate Criminal.  

    • In 2014, Edelman publicly acknowledged the existence and legitimacy of climate change and announced that it would “not accept client assignments that aim to deny climate change.” 

      • The PR firm began work with the Koch Foundation in 2022, with a contract of $100,000, which was considered “ridiculously puny” for the large PR firm. The firm has also worked with other Koch-backed projects, including work with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that “has long worked to fight climate policies.” 

    • Connections within Edelman

      • Steve Lombardo, the head of marketing and communications for Koch Industries, formerly worked at Edelman

      • David Dziook was the VP of Public Affairs for Edelman from 2010 to 2015, before working at Koch Industries as the Director of Communications from 2015 to 2022

    • Edelman’s other notable clients:

    • Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, American Petroleum Institute, and TotalEnergies


    Media

    In 2022, The Stand Together Trust gave $3.1 million to right-wing media outlets. 

    • $1.5 million to the Reason Foundation

      • David Koch was a former trustee of the Reason Foundation

    • $497,000 to Ballotpedia

    • $457,000 to Christianity Today

    • $277,400 to 74 Media

    • $235,000 to American Ideas Institute

    • $100,000 to Think Freely Media

  • The Charles Koch Foundation does appear to directly lobby, but the related Koch Industries does. 


    Koch Industries Lobbying Expenditures:


    100% of Koch Industries’ lobbying goes towards advancing the interests of the oil & gas industry.


    2024 Koch Industries Lobbying Activity:

  • The Center for Media and Democracy reported that in 2022, Stand Together Trust gave $5.3 million to right-wing litigation organizations:

    • $2,000,000 to the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF)

      • Between 2019-2020, PLF received a total of $2,331,550 from the Charles Koch Foundation and the Charles Koch Institute

    • $1,000,000 to the New Civil Liberties alliance (NCLA)

    • $1,000,000 to the Federalist Society

    • $517,000 to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) 

      • Southern Poverty Law Center classifies ADF as a hate group for its “re-criminalization of homosexuality in the U.S. and criminalization abroad.”

    • $500,000 to Becket

    • $150,000 to the Judicial Education Institute

    • $120,000 to the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy

    • $28,000 to the Committee for Justice Foundation

  • In 2022, Stand Together financially supported numerous organizations that engage in climate disinformation or climate denial, including the American Enterprise Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Federalist Society, and the Fraser Institute. 

    Fraser Institute

    • Stand Together sent the think tank $75,000 in 2022

      • Stance on climate change:

        • “The actual climate change in many locations has been relatively small and within the range of known natural variability. There is no compelling evidence that dangerous or unprecedented changes are underway.”

    The Mercatus Center and the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University are two examples of conservative think tanks which Brian Hooks is directly tied to via board membership. 

    • The Stand Together Trust gave the Mercatus Center $2,000,000 in 2022.

    American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

    • Stand Together sent the think tank $666,235 in 2022

      • Stance on climate change:

    • Greenpeace found AEI to be an “avid opponent of the Kyoto protocol, as well as most other environmental regulations”

    • Benjamin Zycher, AEI’s head of energy studies, publicly expressed doubt about human involvement in climate change

    The Federalist Society

    • Stance on climate change:

      • “What you have to understand is given these huge cycles that we’ve had over the last even 10,000 years, this global warming stuff is, you know, doesn’t matter very much relative to the other forces that we don’t understand them. You could spend fortunes in time wasting your efforts stopping things that may never occur.” -Richard Epstein, a regular speaker for the Federal Society, during a panel

    • The Federalist Society has ties with George Mason University's Mercatus Center

    American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

    • Stand Together sent the group $600,000 in 2022

    • Stance on climate change:

      • Google parted with ALEC due to the council’s “inaction on climate change.”

      • ALEC has denied claims that it has promoted a “model policy that advocates for the teaching of ‘climate denial’ in schools” through their Environmental Literacy Improvement Act

    Berkeley Earth

    • The Charles Koch foundation sent the nonprofit research institute $150,000

    • The Institute was founded by Richard Muller, “a physicist and self-proclaimed climate science skeptic” to publicly review and underpin climate change data

    • He later said that his investigation verified human involvement

    Other

    • In 2022, Stand Together Trust gave to: 

      • Foundation for Individual Rights in Education ($5,789,014)

      • Paragon Health Institute ($2,885,000)

      • Mercatus Center ($2,000,000)

      • Cato Institute ($1,838,162)

      • Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft ($851,044)

      • Heritage Foundation ($200,000)

    • The Charles Koch Foundation funded an academic center at Western Carolina University. The Foundation additionally funds several programs, scholarships, etc., at the school- all in line with the Koch brothers’ “free-market agenda.” 

      • If the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise gets approved, the Foundation will send the school $2 million over the course of five years. The faculty senate at WCU noted that “The Charles Koch Foundation has previously set forth explicit expectations in line with their political views in exchange for monetary gifts to universities… thereby constraining academic freedom by influencing and interfering with the development of new knowledge.” 

      • Between 2005 and 2014, the Koch Foundation and three Koch-related groups sent roughly $108 million to 366 higher-education institutions, $91 million going to schools in the south. 

        • $77.7 million was sent to George Mason University, with a majority of it sent to the Mercatus Center and Institute for Humane Studies. 

        • Hooks is a board member for both the Mercatus Center and the Institute for Humane Studies.

        • In 2018, GMU allegedly gave the Charles Koch Foundation “a say in the hiring and firing of professors for millions of dollars in donations”

      • The schools that received the highest donations from the Foundation were all from the South: Florida State University received $2.3 million, West Virginia University and Clemson University both received $1.3 million, and Troy University received $1.1 million. 

      • The Foundation had a $1.5 million funding deal with Florida State, where the Foundation was able to have an influence in hiring decisions at the school.

    • The Charles Koch Foundation has also donated over $1.1 million to large universities in the UK including Oxford, Manchester, Birmingham, and King’s College London and Surrey since 2014.


    Stand Together Trust 2022 TOP Higher Education Grants

    • $9,363,045 to GMU Foundation

    • $6,553,592 to Center for Growth and Opportunity, Utah State University

    • $5,527,055 to Institute for Humane Studies

    • $1,400,000 to Santa Clara University

    • $1,100,000 to Catholic University of America


    Stand Together Trust sent $7.4 million towards school privatization efforts in 2022

    • $6.3 million to the Vela Education Fund

    • $575,000 to Available to All

    • $205,500 to Nevada Action for School Options

    • $112,500 to 4.0 Schools

    • $82,000 to Families Empowered

    • $50,000 to West Virginia Families United for Education

    • $10,200 to Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education

  • Americans for Prosperity (AFP)

    • In 2022, Stand Together Trust & Stand Together Chamber of Commerce gave AFP a grant of $60 million 

      • AFP is an astroturf organization created by the Koch network.


    Americans for Prosperity Action (AFPA)

    • AFPA is AFP’s super PAC; it received $26.5 million in 2022 from Stand Together Trust & Stand Together Chamber of Commerce

    • AFP Action claimed it wouldn't support Donald Trump’s 2024 election efforts due to his role in the insurrection, and would instead support Nikki Haley

    • Stance on climate change:

      • “Abundant, affordable energy is a key driver of prosperity. We must unleash resources by removing regulatory barriers and eliminating corporate welfare that favors certain energy sources over others.”

      • In response to the Keystone XL Pipeline Act: “We applaud Representatives Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy and Ribble on their votes to provide much needed relief for middle class families…American families need secure jobs and the American economy needs secure energy. The Keystone Pipeline provides both.”


    Energy Citizens

    • Edelman, a PR group that has worked closely with the Koch network has ties to the astroturf group “Energy Citizens”

    • Edelman, in collaboration with long-time client API, launched Energy Citizens, a group whose goal was to “oppose Congress’s efforts to address climate change” through “staged rallies.”