The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C., and is recognized as the most prominent organization of its kind in the United States. Founded in 1974 and formally launched in January 1977, it was built to compete with established policy institutions such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution, and has since grown well beyond that original ambition. For fiscal year 2024, it reported total assets of $190,480,742 and total revenue of $62,821,387, figures that reflect decades of expansion from its origins as a three-person operation funded by a single $500,000 grant.
Key facts
- Country: United States
- Founded: 1974
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
- Founder: Ed Crane; Murray Rothbard; Charles Koch
- Type: think tank; nonprofit organization
- Website: https://www.cato.org/
Origins and Name
The organization was incorporated on December 19, 1974, under the name Charles Koch Foundation. The original directors at incorporation were Charles Koch, George Pearson, and Roger MacBride. Its current name came in 1977, when co-founder Murray Rothbard proposed naming it after Cato’s Letters, a series of British political essays written in the early 18th century by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon.
The formal launch took place in San Francisco, California, in January 1977. At that point the institute had a staff of three and $500,000 in financial backing provided by Charles G. Koch. The three co-founders were Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch.
Early Development and Relocation
Murray Rothbard was removed from the institute by the board in 1981. The dispute turned on direction: the board wanted Cato to focus on public policy, while Rothbard believed it should remain devoted to scholarship. That same year, the institute relocated from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., setting up in a historic house on Capitol Hill.
In 1993, Cato moved to its present location on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., where it has remained since.
The 2012 Governance Dispute
In 2012, Charles and David Koch filed lawsuits against the Cato Institute. They characterized the dispute as involving what they called a board-packing scheme and sought to reverse it. The conflict was resolved in June 2012 through a settlement that restructured the board to 12 members, of whom only four would be individuals named by the Kochs.
As part of the June 2012 settlement, Ed Crane resigned after serving as president of the institute from 1977 to October 1, 2012. John Allison, former chairman and CEO of BB&T bank, was named as the new CEO. Crane, who had been one of Cato’s three co-founders, died on February 10, 2026, at age 81.
Leadership and Finances
Peter N. Goettler has served as president and CEO of the Cato Institute since 2015. He first joined the institute as a board member in 2014 and is a former Barclays Capital executive.
For fiscal year 2024, the institute reported total revenue of $62,821,387, total expenses of $47,370,866, and total assets of $190,480,742.
Rankings and Reach
In 2020, the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program ranked the Cato Institute 27th among Top Think Tanks Worldwide and 13th among Top Think Tanks in the United States. The institute publishes the Human Freedom Index, among other research outputs, and covers policy areas ranging from economics to civil liberties.
Did you know
- The Human Freedom Index’s 2024 edition used 86 distinct indicators covering 165 jurisdictions and found that only 14.1 percent of the world’s population lives in the top quartile of freedom, while 43 percent live in the bottom quartile. (complexdiscovery.com)
Data sources
Data updated: 2026-10-31