Washington, D.C. – March 6, 2025 – The Cato Institute is proud to announce that Charles Koch, businessman, philanthropist, and long-time advocate for individual liberty and free markets, has been awarded the 2025 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. This prestigious biennial award recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to advancing human freedom and creating a more open and prosperous society. As the chairman and co-CEO of Koch, Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the world, Charles has championed ideas that empower individuals to innovate, succeed, and create value for others, free from excessive government intervention.
“For decades, Charles Koch has dedicated his entrepreneurial vision, resources, and leadership to advancing liberty, human flourishing, and the principles of a free and open society,” said Peter Goettler, President of the Cato Institute. “His commitment to these ideals—whether in business, philanthropy, education, or public policy—has made a transformative difference, helping to expand freedom and opportunity for individuals worldwide. His many contributions will resonate for generations to come.”
A Legacy of Advancing Freedom
Charles Koch has been a fierce champion of innovation, free enterprise, and limited government. He is the founder of the Stand Together philanthropic community. His Principle Based Management™ philosophy, a framework rooted in principles of human progress, enables individuals and organizations to succeed long term by focusing on creating value for others and helping people achieve lives of meaning. The philosophy has influenced generations of business leaders, policymakers, and social entrepreneurs.
Beyond business, Koch has been a driving force in philanthropy and thought leadership, helping to establish and support institutions dedicated to advancing civil society and personal and economic freedom worldwide. In addition to Stand Together, the list of institutions supported by Koch includes the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Institute for Justice, Americans for Prosperity, Empowered, the Bill of Rights Institute, the Cato Institute, and others. Charles has authored four books on the application of these principles in business, philanthropy, social change and personal transformation, and he continues to write more in support of these ideals.
Throughout his career, Koch has supported organizations advocating for policies that expand personal and economic freedom, ensuring that each individual’s path to success is charted by him or herself—not by their government. His contributions have helped create new generations of individuals working to advance liberty.
Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty
The Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, established in 2002, is awarded every two years to an individual who has made a significant impact on the cause of human freedom. Previous winners include economists, dissidents, and reformers who have challenged authoritarianism, fought for democracy, and promoted the principles of free markets and limited government.
The 2025 Friedman Prize will be presented at a dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 2025. The event will bring together leaders in business, policy, and academia to celebrate Koch’s contributions to advancing liberty.
About Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economic Science, was a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, from 1977 to 2006. He was also Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946 to 1976. He was a member of the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981.
Professor Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year. He is widely regarded as the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics, which stresses the importance of the quantity of money as an instrument of government policy and as a determinant of business cycles and inflation.
About the Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Founded in 1977, Cato works to create a free and open society in which liberty allows every individual to pursue a life of prosperity and meaning in peace.
For more information about the award and recipient, please visit https://www.cato.org/friedman-prize-2025