Cato Institute Founded by Koch, Crane, and Rothbard

Ed Crane, libertarian economist Murray Rothbard, and Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch founded the Cato Institute in San Francisco in January 1977 with a $500,000 commitment from Koch. The libertarian think tank moved to Washington, D.C. in 1981 to lobby federal policymakers directly. Cato's launch placed Koch money inside a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) producing free-market research that conservative lawmakers and reporters could cite.