Until he resigned as the head of the online home goods retailer Overstock on Thursday, Patrick Byrne may have been one of the most unusual CEOs in the United States. A libertarian proponent of blockchain who built the company almost from scratch, he gained a reputation as a conspiracy theorist and for strange behavior —…

The CEO of online home goods seller Overstock resigned Thursday, following comments alleging that the FBI had directed him to pursue an intimate relationship with the convicted Russian agent Maria Butina as an informant. Patrick Byrne, 57, had on Aug. 12 issued a bizarre statement through Overstock criticizing the FBI, referring to a “deep state,”…

David Koch towered over most rooms, both physically and politically. He liked it that way. At 6 feet, 5 inches tall, the professional contrarian and ideological warrior had little interest in blending in. Even as Democrats made him and his deep political giving a symbol of the corrupting influence of money on politics, he remained…