David Koch may have disappeared from the breakfast TV screens… but he certainly isn’t leaving empty-handed.
After co-hosting Australia’s number one morning show for 21 years, the Sunrise presenter has built an impressive reputation media empire and multi-million dollar real estate portfolio.
The 67-year-old financial journalist turned announcer reportedly earned $1 million a year while hosting gig.
But Kochie – as he is affectionately known – has long had a string of lucrative side business on the way.
These include a swag of off-TV media appearances and wise investments in a range of business ventures and start-ups.
Before becoming a household name, Koch was a trained accountant before landing his first media job in the early 1980s writing on the corporate pages of The Australian.
In 1983 he created Personal Investment Magazine, before launching similar publications in New Zealand and the UK.
Kochie has long had a string of lucrative side business on the way.
Kochie and his wife Libby bought the five-bedroom house in East Killara in 2002 – the year he started on one of Australia’s favorite breakfast shows
SILK HUSTLES
In the following years he has wrote regular financial columns for New Idea Magazine and a number of News Limited newspapers; including the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun.
Kochie has written several practical books on family and business financial management, and has also published a book of jokes compiled from his daily joke segment on TV.
As one of Australia’s most recognizable faces, he is also in demand for speaking engagements and regularly addresses a wide range of corporate events and groups.
Using his business expertise, Koch launched Pinstripe Media with wife Libby in 2007.
The TV production company now led by son Alexander ‘AJ has grown to create inspirational tech, startup, business and financial content across all media channels.
In 2013, Koch launched KBB Digital, a small business digital marketing agency that is an extension of the ‘Kochie’s Business Builders’ brand. However, the financial expert has quietly relieved the company, which now operates under 3228 Digital.
In 2020, Koch co-launched Ausbiz with Kylie Merritt of Your Money, an Australian streaming platform for business and finance.
PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
It clearly pays to be on TV. It was a matter of a new job, a new home for Kochie and Libby who bought a house in East Killara in 2002 – the same year he started on the first breakfast show.
Records show that the couple paid $1.84 million for the property, before selling it in 2006 for $2.275 million.
In the same year, the couple bought a beautiful beachfront property in Newport for $4.65 million.
Kochie and wife Libby have been married for four decades and together have four children and six grandchildren. The pair started Pinstripe Media in 2007
Idyllic: Northern Beaches home features four bedrooms, spectacular ocean views, infinity pool and outdoor deck
The idyllic 1460 sq ft property features four bedrooms, spectacular ocean views over Bungan Beach, an infinity pool and a large outdoor deck.
The couple scored a huge discount on the Northern Beaches luxury retreat, with a price list of $5 million before it sold, according to CoreLogic data.
The financial expert knows a thing or two about real estate, making headlines in March and berating baby boomers for pushing their mortgage myths onto today’s aspiring homeowners in a cheeky TikTok video.
The breakfast TV presenter examined the older generation’s claims that more than 20 years ago it was more difficult to buy a house below a 17 percent interest rate than it is today.
Among his community interests, he is president of the Port Adelaide Football Club and a patron of the Koch Center for Youth and Learning, which is managed by Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets.
He used football as a metaphor and said he would be leaving the show to work on other projects and spend more time with his family.
Natalie Barr fought back tears on Sunrise this morning after her co-host announced he was leaving the program after nearly 21 years. Kochie has been a shrewd investor
Kochie and his wife Libby have written a number of books on finance and families
Melissa Doyle (pictured) co-hosted with Kochie from 2002 to 2013
“Now is the time to work some office hours I think and have a little bit of flexibility to focus more on…our very large family…our family business and frankly my football club as well,” he said.
Koch is the longest-serving breakfast TV presenter in Australian history and has hosted 16,000 hours of live TV on over 5,300 shows and has conducted approximately 50,000 interviews.
“I’ve decided to retire as co-host of Sunrise,” he announced, before paying tribute to his colleagues, co-host Natalie Barr, sports reporter Mark Beretta, producer David Walters and his boss Kerry Stokes.
It will end on Sunrise on Friday, June 9.