The American billionaire Koch brothers now own a sizable chunk of Getty Images after the investment arm of Koch Industries agreed to make a $500 million investment in the stock photo agency.



Getty Images just announced the non-controlling preferred equity investment by Koch Equity Development LLC (KED), which won’t affect the Getty family’s control over Getty Images that was gained through its purchase of a majority stake earlier this year.

“Consistent with its [$650 million] 2017 financial investment in support of Meredith’s acquisition of Time Inc., KED will have no input into Getty Images content or editorial coverage,” Getty Images says.

“In September we announced my family were resuming control of Getty Images – a business that bears our name and one that we fervently believe in,” Getty Images co-founder and chairman Mark Getty says. “KED demonstrated they share a belief in Getty Images, a long-term outlook and focus on growth. We are extremely excited about this partnership and what it means for Getty Images.”

Koch Industries is an American multinational corporation and the second-largest privately held company in the US. Brothers Charles and David Koch each own 42% of the company and are each worth over $50 billion. In addition to their business and philanthropic dealings, the Koch brothers are also prominent political activists and donors.

“With this investment, KED has now made more than $9 billion of industry-agnostic, principal investments into public, private and family-owned businesses since 2012,” Getty Images says. “KED’s investment in Getty Images is consistent with its approach of providing long-term capital to businesses in partnership with existing ownership and management.”

The investment deal is expected to be finalized by the end of 2018.

Image credits: Photo of David Koch by Gage Skidmore and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0