Joshua Kushner | |
---|---|
Born |
Livingston, New Jersey, U.S. | June 12, 1985
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Occupation(s) | Owner of
Thrive Capital Co-founder of Oscar Health Minority Owner of Memphis Grizzlies |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Seryl Kushner (mother) Charles Kushner (father) |
Relatives | See Kushner family |
Joshua Kushner (born June 12, 1985) is an American businessman, heir, and investor. [1] He is the founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, co-founder of Oscar Health, and the son of real estate developer Charles Kushner. [2] He is the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former senior advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump. He is also a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies. [3] [4]
Joshua Kushner was born on June 12, 1985, in Livingston, New Jersey where he grew up in a Jewish family to parents Charles and Seryl Kushner. [5] Kushner graduated from Harvard College in 2008, and from Harvard Business School in 2011. [6] [7] [8]
During his sophomore year, Kushner was founding executive editor of Scene, a new pop culture student-publication. [9] The publication was badly received by critics upon release. [10]
In the spring of his junior year he worked with two graduate students to pool $10,000 in order to found social network Vostu, [11] which aimed to "fill a void left by online communities in which English is the lingua franca", like Facebook. According to Kushner, Latin America was a promising market for a Facebook-alternative and new social networking site because "[it was] a place where Internet use is increasing every year, and technology is booming at a rapid pace". [12] Vostu laid off the majority of its employees in 2013 and significantly scaled back its operations after a copyright lawsuit from a competitor accused them of copying games. [13] [14]
The year after graduation he co-founded a start-up called Unithrive. Unithrive was inspired by the peer-to-peer loan model of Kiva, but aimed to "ease the crisis in paying for college" by matching "alumni lenders to cash-strapped students ... who [could] post photographs and biographical information and request up to $2,000", interest-free for repayment within five years of graduation. [15] After graduating from Harvard, he started his career in the private equity arm at Goldman Sachs, working for a year on distressed debt. [16]
He founded Thrive Capital in 2010, a venture capital firm that focuses on media and internet investments. [17] [18] Since its founding, Thrive has raised over $7.3 billion from institutional investors, including Princeton University. [19] Thrive’s capital funds include: Thrive II, which raised $40 million in 2011; Thrive III, which raised $150 million in 2012; Thrive IV, which raised $400 million in September 2014; [19] [20] Thrive V, raising $700 million in 2016; Thrive VI, raising $1 billion in 2018; Thrive VII, raising $2 billion in 2021; and Thrive VIII, raising $3 billion in 2022. [21] [22]
As an investor in Instagram, Kushner was the second largest investor in Instagram's Series B fundraising round. Valued at $500 million, Thrive soon doubled its money after Instagram was sold to Facebook. [11]
For his work with Thrive, Kushner was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30, [23] Inc. Magazine's 35 Under 35, [24] Crain's 40 Under 40, [25] and Vanity Fair's Next Establishment. [26]
In 2021 it was reported by Bloomberg that Goldman Sachs had invested in Kushner's Thrive Capital at a $3.6 billion valuation. [27]
Kushner is a co-founder of Oscar Health, a health insurance start-up. Founded in 2012, Oscar was valued at $2.7 billion in 2016. [28] Oscar went public in 2021, with Kushner's Thrive Capital owning a stake worth $1.21 billion. [29] [30] Oscar reported an $87 million loss in its first quarter as a publicly traded company. [31]
In 2020, it was revealed by The Atlantic that Jared Kushner had contracted Oscar Health to develop a coronavirus testing website that was later scrapped, even though Trump had said publicly that Google was developing the website. [32]
In 2015, Kushner founded a new company called Cadre with his brother Jared and their friend Ryan Williams, with Williams as Cadre's CEO. Cadre is a technology platform designed to help certain types of clients, such as family offices and endowments, invest in real estate. [33] [34]
Kushner owns 50% of JK2 (also known as Westminster Management), a real estate management company, his brother Jared owns the other 50%. In April 2021, a Judge ruled that JK2 was found to have committed "widespread and numerous" violations of Maryland's consumer protection laws at Baltimore-area properties by collecting debts without the required licenses, charging tenants improper fees, and misrepresenting the condition of rental units. [35] [36] [37]
Kushner's JK2 was also featured in an episode of Netflix's Dirty Money series titled "Slumlord Millionaire." [38] The episode was based on an expose from ProPublica accusing the company of abusing tenants rights, leaving homes in disrepair, humiliating late-paying renters and suing tenants when they try and move out. [39]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, JK2 filed a significant number of lawsuits against tenants for debt collection and eviction, despite an eviction moratorium being in place. [40]
Kushner started dating model Karlie Kloss in 2012. [41] The couple got engaged in July 2018, a month after Kloss' conversion to Judaism (Kushner's faith). [42] The couple married on October 18, 2018. [43]
Months prior to the Qatar diplomatic crisis, Kushner Companies had attempted to seek financing from the Qataris for their signature 666 Fifth Avenue property, which was facing a massive debt load in April 2017. [44] Joshua's father, Charles Kushner, had met with Qatari finance minister, Ali Shareef Al Emadi, twice to seek financing for the property. [44] [45] During the same week that his father was meeting with Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Josh also met with Al Emadi. [46] The deal fell through. [47] [48] [49] [50]
According to an investigation by The New York Times, in October 2017, Joshua Kushner met with several senior members of the Saudi government and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund at a conference in Riyadh. The day after he left, his brother Jared, along with several other senior members of the Trump administration, met with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. [51] While the meeting was not illegal, it raised potential conflict of interest concerns. [51] [52]
In October 2020, it was reported that Kloss and Kushner were expecting their first child. [53] Their first child, Levi Joseph, was born on March 11, 2021. [54] [55] His wife announced her second pregnancy with Kushner during the Met Gala in May 2023. [56] Their second child, Elijah Jude, was born on July 11, 2023. [57] [58] In December 2020, the couple purchased a home in Miami, Florida for US$23.5 million. [59]
Kushner was included in a 2024 Washington Post article about a WhatsApp group chat from October 2023 through early May 2024 where some United States' business leaders discussed "chang[ing] the narrative" in favor of Israel by conveying “the atrocities committed by Hamas…to all Americans,” following Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel. [60] However, a spokesperson of Kushner stated that, “Josh has not participated in [the group chat].” [61]
His brother, Jared, who is Donald Trump's son-in-law, was a senior advisor to the President during Trump's presidency, and is also an investor in Oscar Health. [62]
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Joshua Kushner | |
---|---|
Born |
Livingston, New Jersey, U.S. | June 12, 1985
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Occupation(s) | Owner of
Thrive Capital Co-founder of Oscar Health Minority Owner of Memphis Grizzlies |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Seryl Kushner (mother) Charles Kushner (father) |
Relatives | See Kushner family |
Joshua Kushner (born June 12, 1985) is an American businessman, heir, and investor. [1] He is the founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, co-founder of Oscar Health, and the son of real estate developer Charles Kushner. [2] He is the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former senior advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump. He is also a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies. [3] [4]
Joshua Kushner was born on June 12, 1985, in Livingston, New Jersey where he grew up in a Jewish family to parents Charles and Seryl Kushner. [5] Kushner graduated from Harvard College in 2008, and from Harvard Business School in 2011. [6] [7] [8]
During his sophomore year, Kushner was founding executive editor of Scene, a new pop culture student-publication. [9] The publication was badly received by critics upon release. [10]
In the spring of his junior year he worked with two graduate students to pool $10,000 in order to found social network Vostu, [11] which aimed to "fill a void left by online communities in which English is the lingua franca", like Facebook. According to Kushner, Latin America was a promising market for a Facebook-alternative and new social networking site because "[it was] a place where Internet use is increasing every year, and technology is booming at a rapid pace". [12] Vostu laid off the majority of its employees in 2013 and significantly scaled back its operations after a copyright lawsuit from a competitor accused them of copying games. [13] [14]
The year after graduation he co-founded a start-up called Unithrive. Unithrive was inspired by the peer-to-peer loan model of Kiva, but aimed to "ease the crisis in paying for college" by matching "alumni lenders to cash-strapped students ... who [could] post photographs and biographical information and request up to $2,000", interest-free for repayment within five years of graduation. [15] After graduating from Harvard, he started his career in the private equity arm at Goldman Sachs, working for a year on distressed debt. [16]
He founded Thrive Capital in 2010, a venture capital firm that focuses on media and internet investments. [17] [18] Since its founding, Thrive has raised over $7.3 billion from institutional investors, including Princeton University. [19] Thrive’s capital funds include: Thrive II, which raised $40 million in 2011; Thrive III, which raised $150 million in 2012; Thrive IV, which raised $400 million in September 2014; [19] [20] Thrive V, raising $700 million in 2016; Thrive VI, raising $1 billion in 2018; Thrive VII, raising $2 billion in 2021; and Thrive VIII, raising $3 billion in 2022. [21] [22]
As an investor in Instagram, Kushner was the second largest investor in Instagram's Series B fundraising round. Valued at $500 million, Thrive soon doubled its money after Instagram was sold to Facebook. [11]
For his work with Thrive, Kushner was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30, [23] Inc. Magazine's 35 Under 35, [24] Crain's 40 Under 40, [25] and Vanity Fair's Next Establishment. [26]
In 2021 it was reported by Bloomberg that Goldman Sachs had invested in Kushner's Thrive Capital at a $3.6 billion valuation. [27]
Kushner is a co-founder of Oscar Health, a health insurance start-up. Founded in 2012, Oscar was valued at $2.7 billion in 2016. [28] Oscar went public in 2021, with Kushner's Thrive Capital owning a stake worth $1.21 billion. [29] [30] Oscar reported an $87 million loss in its first quarter as a publicly traded company. [31]
In 2020, it was revealed by The Atlantic that Jared Kushner had contracted Oscar Health to develop a coronavirus testing website that was later scrapped, even though Trump had said publicly that Google was developing the website. [32]
In 2015, Kushner founded a new company called Cadre with his brother Jared and their friend Ryan Williams, with Williams as Cadre's CEO. Cadre is a technology platform designed to help certain types of clients, such as family offices and endowments, invest in real estate. [33] [34]
Kushner owns 50% of JK2 (also known as Westminster Management), a real estate management company, his brother Jared owns the other 50%. In April 2021, a Judge ruled that JK2 was found to have committed "widespread and numerous" violations of Maryland's consumer protection laws at Baltimore-area properties by collecting debts without the required licenses, charging tenants improper fees, and misrepresenting the condition of rental units. [35] [36] [37]
Kushner's JK2 was also featured in an episode of Netflix's Dirty Money series titled "Slumlord Millionaire." [38] The episode was based on an expose from ProPublica accusing the company of abusing tenants rights, leaving homes in disrepair, humiliating late-paying renters and suing tenants when they try and move out. [39]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, JK2 filed a significant number of lawsuits against tenants for debt collection and eviction, despite an eviction moratorium being in place. [40]
Kushner started dating model Karlie Kloss in 2012. [41] The couple got engaged in July 2018, a month after Kloss' conversion to Judaism (Kushner's faith). [42] The couple married on October 18, 2018. [43]
Months prior to the Qatar diplomatic crisis, Kushner Companies had attempted to seek financing from the Qataris for their signature 666 Fifth Avenue property, which was facing a massive debt load in April 2017. [44] Joshua's father, Charles Kushner, had met with Qatari finance minister, Ali Shareef Al Emadi, twice to seek financing for the property. [44] [45] During the same week that his father was meeting with Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Josh also met with Al Emadi. [46] The deal fell through. [47] [48] [49] [50]
According to an investigation by The New York Times, in October 2017, Joshua Kushner met with several senior members of the Saudi government and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund at a conference in Riyadh. The day after he left, his brother Jared, along with several other senior members of the Trump administration, met with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. [51] While the meeting was not illegal, it raised potential conflict of interest concerns. [51] [52]
In October 2020, it was reported that Kloss and Kushner were expecting their first child. [53] Their first child, Levi Joseph, was born on March 11, 2021. [54] [55] His wife announced her second pregnancy with Kushner during the Met Gala in May 2023. [56] Their second child, Elijah Jude, was born on July 11, 2023. [57] [58] In December 2020, the couple purchased a home in Miami, Florida for US$23.5 million. [59]
Kushner was included in a 2024 Washington Post article about a WhatsApp group chat from October 2023 through early May 2024 where some United States' business leaders discussed "chang[ing] the narrative" in favor of Israel by conveying “the atrocities committed by Hamas…to all Americans,” following Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel. [60] However, a spokesperson of Kushner stated that, “Josh has not participated in [the group chat].” [61]
His brother, Jared, who is Donald Trump's son-in-law, was a senior advisor to the President during Trump's presidency, and is also an investor in Oscar Health. [62]
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)