Billionaire Charles Koch’s heiress daughter has come under furious fire after she lamented the many traumas of her privileged upbringing in a “pathetic” interview with The New York Times – while also touting her own ‘Perception Box’ therapy which she claims has helped her allowed to overcome the “internal conflict” caused by his family’s wealth.
Elizabeth Koch, 47, who grew up in a $13 million mansion in Wichita, Kansas, spoke to the Times about the trauma she faced thanks to her wealthy upbringing, and her comments sparked a furious fury from social media users media outlets branded the outlet “embarrassing” and “humiliating” for giving billionaires a platform “to rehabilitate their public image.”
Elizabeth said having so much money as a child left her badly damaged, thanks to the deep “fear” she developed of being judged for her riches and her long struggle to impress her powerful father.
While the heiress has spoken negatively about the impact her father’s riches had on her, she has definitely enjoyed some of the perks that come with being the daughter of a billionaire over the years.
Billionaire Charles Koch’s heiress daughter has revealed that growing up in his privileged family left her with depression, OCD and an eating disorder
Elizabeth Koch, 47, who grew up in a $13 million mansion in Wichita, Kansas, opened up about the trauma she faced thanks to her wealthy upbringing in a new interview. Her father is seen
Elizabeth having so much money as a child has left her badly damaged, thanks to the deep “fear” she developed of being judged for her riches and her struggle to impress her father
She attended an Ivy League college — Princeton — and often goes on lavish getaways (most recently, she visited Bali with her husband, a biotech entrepreneur named Jason Kakoyiannis) — but when the Times asked her how much money she inherited, she he replied ‘no comment.’
According to the now 47-year-old, she’s known her family was wealthy since she can remember, despite her “loving” parents’ attempts not to raise her and her brother as “spoiled bits of [s**t].’
From a young age, Elizabeth said she worried people wouldn’t appreciate her because of her “privilege,” and when her classmates started treating her “differently,” she said it made her feel better. made severely insecure.
“It’s not like growing up in New York City, where a lot of people are rich,” she explained.
‘We were very different in Wichita. I was so scared that people would hate me. i have heard of [my wealth] a lot, and I could see how other people responded to it.
“I heard it everywhere. I did not understand that it was about the family. Me only [assumed] that it was about me, so I must be bad.’
She said she got “trapped” in a spiral of “feeling like she’s never good enough,” while also fighting to “please” her “daddy.”
Charles, now 87, who had a reported net worth of $68 billion as of January 2023 and was ranked the 14th richest person in the world according to Bloomberg, is the co-owner and CEO of the massive oil company Koch Industries – which is now the largest private company in the United States.
His comments drew a fury from social media users who branded the outlet an ’embarrassment’ for giving billionaires a platform ‘to rehabilitate their public images’
He and his late brother, David Koch, inherited it from their father, Fred Koch, in 1967, and have continued to expand it to produce a variety of other things such as oil, energy, fiber, minerals, fertilizer, paper and oil control. equipment pollution.
Charles, now 87, who had a reported net worth of $68 billion as of January 2023 and was ranked the 14th richest person in the world according to Bloomberg, is the co-owner and CEO of the massive oil company Koch Industries
The brothers are also known for making a string of mega donations to Republican politicians over the years and have been among the GOP’s top donors since the 1980s.
Despite the pressure Elizabeth felt to live up to her father’s huge reputation, Elizabeth insisted it wasn’t her fault.
‘There is no blame there. I was just confused and was putting things together in a really twisted way,” she explained. “And then I was so ashamed that I couldn’t talk about it.”
The Times reported that Elizabeth’s wealthy upbringing has left her with “depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and an eating disorder,” adding that she was “pushed to the brink of insanity by her last name.”
In a 2007 essay for Smith Magazine, she described her childhood as filled with “panic attacks and meltdowns and doctors and drugs.”
He and his late brother, David Koch, inherited it from their father, Fred Koch, in 1967, and have continued to expand it to produce a variety of other things such as oil, energy and minerals
The brothers are also known for making a string of mega donations to Republican politicians over the years — and have been among the GOP’s biggest donors since the 1980s
From a young age, Elizabeth said she worried people wouldn’t appreciate her because of her “privilege,” which led to her becoming severely insecure.
She went through a phase of psychedelic drug use — she flew to Peru to try ayahuasca — and also spent time “in a mental institution.”
‘[I would stare] down that dark pit of “Nothing you do will ever be good enough, privileged waste of meat,” he wrote.
She said she got ‘trapped’ in a spiral of ‘feeling like she’s never good enough’, while also fighting to ‘please’ her ‘daddy’
But Elizabeth told the Times that she has since “done a lot of work” trying to heal from her past.
In 2021, he launched a non-profit called The Unlikely Contributor, which is dedicated to “provoking a powerful acceptance of self and other” in people and “untangling the histories that hold us back — as individuals, communities, nations, and humanity.” in general,’ according to its website.
It’s built around the concept of something she calls the “Perception Box.”
“We all live inside an invisible but ever-present mental box: a Perception Box,” she told the publication.
‘This box distorts our perceptions of everything and everyone around us. It distorts our ability to understand other people, to see them clearly, to connect with them. And it distorts our ability to really know ourselves as well.
‘Most of the external conflicts, clutter and miscommunication in the world – in businesses, in relationships, in families, in every aspect of our lives – is caused by internal conflicts.
“And most of the internal conflict is caused by unconscious beliefs that we’ve been carrying around since we were very young – from zero to five years old – and that we project onto everyone around us.”
While the heiress has spoken negatively about the impact her father’s riches have had on her, she has definitely enjoyed some of the perks that come with being the daughter of a billionaire
In 2021, he launched a non-profit called The Unlikely Contributor, which is dedicated to “provoking powerful acceptance of self and others” in people
Unlikely Collaborators seeks to “get people to stop signaling, bragging, fronting, and disguising who they really are and getting real with each other” by giving workshops and lectures. Elizabeth also plans to one day release books and films on the subject.
In an email to the Times, Charles said he was “delighted” and “couldn’t be more proud” that his daughter has “dedicated her life to making the world a better place for everyone.”
“When the kids were little, I pushed them to work hard and be the best they could be,” she added.
‘That’s a parent’s job: to help their children realize their full potential and live meaningful lives.
‘We wanted our children to discover their gifts and where they can passionately apply them to help others improve their lives.
“For most of us, this takes time and involves struggle and trial and error. Our children were no exception.’
Finally, the self-described “apolitical, privileged, pale, Midwestern white girl” told the publication that there’s one thing she wants in life: “Not to be hated.”
Finally, the self-described “apolitical, privileged, pale, Midwestern white girl” told the publication that there’s one thing she wants in life: “Not to be hated.” She was seen with a friend
But Elizabeth’s interview with the Times led to just the opposite and unleashed a wave of backlash for the public speaker.
“There is a very easy way for her to change what people think of her and that is to use her wealth and influence to do good things in the world,” one person pointed out.
“Another avenue would be for her to find a rube like you who is willing or naïve enough to launder her PR.”
“So instead of using his fortune and privilege to try to undo his family’s evil, he’s using it to make up some slang to convince himself not to care about the damage his family’s money has caused and then use it to get free publicity from an unethical newspaper,” added another.
One person even called the Times “embarrassing” and “humiliating” for interviewing her in the first place, while another slammed the outlet for “carrying water for the rich and powerful.”
“So you went to journalism school and took out student loans to end up doing this?” read another harsh answer.
“This is seriously one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever seen printed in the Times,” said someone else.
“When you decided to tell this story, who did you think the audience would be that it would benefit?” another user asked. “Because it seems more in service of the subject than the audience.”
“Anyone else concerned that the NYT is a tool for billionaires to rehabilitate their public image?” another person tweeted.
