You would think that Wyatt Ingraham Koch would be in a more giving mood these days.
After all, ‘tis the season and Wyatt, the eldest son and heir of billionaire businessman Bill Koch, just got the biggest Christmas present of his life in the form of a monumental tax cut scam that will enrich his family by countless millions, perhaps even billions, of dollars, while ultimately raising taxes on hard-working middle class and poor families.
Alas, Koch is showing more Grinch than gratitude these days. Page Six reports the 31-year-old aspiring fashion designer (more on that in a moment) is suing his ex-fiancée Ivie Gabrielle Slocumb after she broke off their engagement earlier this year. He wants the 8.24-carat Oscar Heyman diamond ring he bought for $180,000 back. Only he says it’s now worth $250,000, and he wants $15,000 in damages to boot.
Guillotine Chic
Perhaps Koch needs the money to grow his budding fashion label, Wyatt Ingraham (from which he strategically struck his family name), the result of the sartorialist scion’s “life-long love affair with fashion.” The label lives up to its motto, “Be Bold,” although bold isn’t always necessarily good. With a look that can best be described as Palm Beach meets preschool, Wyatt Ingraham features bright, busy patterns that include a short-sleeve shirt covered in moneybags called the Wall Street. “If you enjoy long, romantic walks to the bank, this shirt is for you,” says the brand’s online store.
Koch wears that shirt in a video in which he explains what “Be Bold” means to him. “My father said to me, ‘Wyatt, you can do whatever you want to in life. Just make sure you do it well and do it with passion,’ ” he begins, later explaining that his shirts can be “worn in the boardroom or in the discoteca or a nightclub — or on a yacht.”
Or to the guillotine, based on social media reaction to a video many thought must have been some sort of satire.
”These shirts will be good for wiping the blood from the guillotine for the next useless heir,” YouTube user Patrick Devaney commented.
”The perfect shirt to wear while feasting on the blood of the poor!” exclaimed YouTuber johnson johnson.
“His shitty drawing of what I presume is a human male, about halfway thru, was the giveaway that this clearly is satire. Right guys? Right? Please?,” tweeted Tyler Parkinson.
Sadly, this isn’t satire. It’s…
The New Normal
While there have always been Wyatt Ingraham Koch types, we can expect even more of them as the effects of today’s Republican tax cut scam really start to kick in down the road. By now you’ve heard how really, truly bad it is, with 83 percent of the cut’s gains going to the top 1 percent of US earners. The rich will get richer, and thanks to a doubling of the estate tax exemption and other gazillionaire goodies, so will heirs like Wyatt Koch.
Plutocrats and business owners like Koch (and President Trump and his family) will reap the greatest rewards. They will be free to do what CEOs admit hardly anyone will actually do after the cut; that is, hire more workers and pay higher wages. Then again, if Wyatt Ingraham clothing is what job creation looks like, perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing.