WHO IS JOSH KUSHNER, THE BILLIONAIRE WHO JUST BOUGHT THE LAKERS?

Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, speaks during the Hill & Valley forum at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

New York —  Josh Kushner doesn’t give many interviews or make public appearances often, but he’s keen on making headlines.

Kushner, the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, announced that he was teaming up with former Disney CEO Bob Iger to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for a record-breaking $12.5 billion.

It’s just one of many flashy deals and investments involving the 41-year-old as of late. His successful career as founder of Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm that raised more than $10 billion in its latest round, has served as a springboard to build his status as a powerful mogul.

“I think Thrive is a very small percentage of its potential. I feel like we’re just getting started,” Kushner said in a February podcast, frequently mentioning loyalty and humility as his core leadership values.

“I believe that my word, the word of the firm, is more important than anything else,” he continued.

Thrive has amassed a massive portfolio, ranging from early investments in high-profile technology companies like OpenAI and SpaceX, to trendy brands such as Spotify, Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS and movie studio A24. It’s also involved in sports, owning minority portions of the San Francisco Giants and the Miami Heat.

The New York-based firm also has an offshoot, called Thrive Holdings, which invests in companies that are working to modernize traditionally old-school industries through AI.

“I think this is the most important moment in our lifetimes. In many respects AI is underhyped,” Kushner said in a 2025 interview at the tech and policy summit The Hill & Valley Forum.

Kushner’s Thrive is also a pivotal investor in OpenAI, most recently funneling another $1 billion to the company in December, CNBC reported. He shares a close working relationship with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

“Josh makes high-conviction bets on high-quality companies and founders, and he doesn’t care too much about what other investors think. I feel a lot of camaraderie with that,” Altman told Fortune in 2024.

Josh, born in New Jersey, is the son of real estate tycoon Charles Kushner. He’s the younger brother of Jared Kushner, who is more well known these days as the son-in-law of President Donald Trump. His father Charles was pardoned by Trump in 2020 over a 2005 conviction on federal tax evasion charges.

Founder and CEO of Thrive Capital Josh Kushner attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Lodge on July 10, 2026 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Josh, however, has largely steered clear of associating himself with the Trump family. Rather, he’s building one of his own with model Karlie Kloss, who married in 2018 and have three children. The pair are regulars at the Met Gala.

Still, the two have not been fully able to separate themselves from his family. (“Not even to dinner with the Kushners?,” one contestant on reality TV show Project Runway infamously quipped to Kloss over criticism about a dress designed for her.)

“I’m sure I’m not the only person in this country who does not necessarily agree with their family on politics,” Kloss said in a later interview. “… my man and I have been through a lot together and you know I’m so proud that he’s my partner.”

Kushner said in 2017 that “It is no secret that liberal values have guided my life and that I have supported political leaders that share similar values.”

Kushner also founded Oscar Health in 2012, a health insurance company that initially capitalized on the creation of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and recently posted record profits.

According to Forbes, Kushner is worth about $5 billion.

Still, not all of his bets are successful: Last month Kushner’s Thrive Eternal was part of a controversial —and quickly scrapped — plan with FIFA to sell private stakes in upcoming World Cup tournaments. FIFA said that the money generated will be reinvested back into the sport.

Kushner’s purchase of the Lakers “serves as a way to put the FIFA controversy behind him quickly and almost turn a new leaf in the sports sector,” Mark Conrad, professor of law and ethics at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, told CNN over email.

“It certainly puts him on the map more than before,” he said.

- Jordan Valinsky and Ramishah Maruf

FIFA BOSS INFANTINO SCRAPS WORLD CUP SELL OFF PLANS AFTER BACKLASH

"Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place," the FIFA president said in a statement on Friday.

President Gianni Infantino holds the FIFA World Cup winner's trophy. SAM HODDE/GETTY IMAGES

After announcing plans earlier this week for FIFA to sell off a stake in the World Cup to private investors, the president of the global soccer governing body, Gianni Infantino, has announced he’s pulling those plans.

“The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed. And more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders,” Infantino said in a statement on Friday.

“Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” he continued. “Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”

The proposed plan would have consisted of FIFA setting up a new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), that would bundle soccer associated money-making operations while a significant stake would be sold to private investors. 20 percent of the company would have been sold to Thrive Capital, an invest group run by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Backlash was immediate, with European soccer body UEFA saying on Thursday that if the plan went through, it would boycott FIFA events, including the World Cup. Three of the four semi-finalists of the 2026 men’s World Cup hailed from Europe, including this year’s champion, Spain.

Earlier this week, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham released a statement online that read, “football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine. The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.”

Infantino’s statement continued, “Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support.”

- MCKINLEY FRANKLIN

GIANNI INFANTINO PLANS TO SELL WORLD CUP IN 'NUCLEAR BOMB' OF FOOTBALL

Fifa president would expect to bank millions as head of new company that would control tournament after his current term ends in 2031

Gianni Infantino is Fifa president until 2031 Credit: Eduardo Verdugo/AP

Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, is plotting a World Cup sell-off to private investors.

Uefa, the European governing body of football and an increasingly vocal critic of Fifa, reacted with fury to a proposed £15bn deal, accusing it of trading the game’s “soul”.

Telegraph Sport understands Uefa is now considering its legal options over the biggest threat to football as it currently exists since the failed 2021 Super League plot. One source said a “nuclear bomb” had gone off in the game. The Football Association was said to be completely blindsided by the proposals.

The plan, announced nine days after the World Cup, would result in a group of investors controlling the commercial interests of Fifa’s top men’s and women’s competitions.

Thrive Capital – run by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner – will lead the proposed investor group. Sources played down suggested involvement from the Trump administration in the plans.

Infantino has been heavily criticised for cosying up to Trump in the lead up to and during the 2026 World Cup, which culminated in the US president personally intervening to successfully get Folarin Balogun’s suspension overturned for the co-host’s last-16 match.

Saudi Arabia, who will host the 2034 World Cup, are highly likely to express interest in the company via their PIF sovereign wealth fund, and Qatar have maintained close ties to Infantino since winning the hosting rights of the 2022 World Cup.

JP Morgan, which was previously involved in the abandoned Super League plot, is Fifa’s financial adviser on the project.

Although there is no binding agreement on the plans, they increase the likelihood of an expanded World Cup or the tournament being held more regularly than every four years.

The move would also include the women’s World Cup and Club World Cup, which could both be played more frequently than the current four-year cycles.

One senior football figure said of Infantino: “He has definitely lost his mind. We will fight it fiercely.”

Another senior figure in European football told Telegraph Sport: “This is one man trying to make himself incredibly rich. Fifa doesn’t need the money, nor do the member associations as they have plenty from the World Cup.”

Fifa’s commercial rights spanning broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing, and licensing would be privately owned under the plans.

‘None of us own football – it is not Fifa’s to sell’

Uefa said in a statement: “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. Uefa takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game. The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell."

Fifa, on Tuesday afternoon, said in a press release: “[it] intends to expand football development funding to over $10bn (£7.5bn), subject to approval by Fifa member associations.

“If approved, football development in every corner of the world would benefit immediately from increased funding available to all 211 Fifa member associations.”

A so-called Fifa forward enterprise (FFE) project which would consolidate all commercial and event operations “would raise up to $4.2bn later this year”, projections said.

The numbers are based on an initial equity valuation of $20bn (£15bn) “by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests in FFE”.

“All net benefits of FFE will be reinvested back into football worldwide,” the plan claimed.

Sepp Blatter, the former Fifa president, joined the backlash on Tuesday night. “The close relationship between the Fifa president and the US president has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football,” he wrote on X. “No one has the right to sell our game.”

Infantino defends plans

Greg Maffei, the chief executive of Bann Ventures and formerly president and chief executive of Liberty Media during its acquisition and ownership of Formula One, has been a key commercial adviser and will remain involved, Telegraph Sport understands. Other advisers such as OpenEconomics are engaging with prospective long-term investors.

“The process is focused on assembling a geographically diversified investor group that reflects the global nature of Fifa and the game; expressions of interest to date include investors from across every major region of the world: Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa,” a Fifa press release said.

Infantino said: “Our next stage of growth needs a structure built for it, one where the commercial side of the game operates as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world. Every Fifa member association should have an opportunity to seek a fair share of the available funding to shape its own future, deciding for itself rather than relying on others. This is about the democratisation of football worldwide.”

Who would be chief beneficiaries?

If approved, Fifa would offer each of its 211 member associations “the opportunity” to access up to $20m “in one-off capital”.

“The process is focused on assembling a geographically diversified investor group that reflects the global nature of Fifa and the game; expressions of interest to date include investors from across every major region of the world: Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa,” a Fifa press release said.

Infantino said: “Our next stage of growth needs a structure built for it, one where the commercial side of the game operates as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world. Every Fifa member association should have an opportunity to seek a fair share of the available funding to shape its own future, deciding for itself rather than relying on others. This is about the democratisation of football worldwide.”

Who would be chief beneficiaries?

If approved, Fifa would offer each of its 211 member associations “the opportunity” to access up to $20m “in one-off capital”.

“Participation would be entirely voluntary, and no member association would be required to participate,” the details stipulated. “The additional funding would be financed through FFE’s planned initial capital raise of up to $4.2bn (£3.1bn).”

The Times and Financial Times were first to report the outline plans. Fifa has denied claims Infantino was being lined up to become chief executive of the new entity. He would expect to bank millions of pounds if he took up such a role.

“However, the Fifa president and the Fifa administration will and must have leading roles in this entity – if approved – to always be in control of any Fifa subsidiary in accordance with Fifa’s statutes and regulations for the benefit of Fifa member associations,” a statement added.

The governing body said that “Jared Kushner is not an investor” and also denied suggestions staff had signed non-disclosure agreements over the plans.

The move comes amid growing pressure on Infantino following a rant in which he defended the World Cup and his position as the head of world football.

On Monday, a Democrat attorney requested Infantino appear before the House Judiciary Committee to discuss the extent of his relationship with Trump. Representative Jamie Raskin, the senior member on the committee, also requested Fifa provide all of its records on its contacts with Trump, his administration and the Trump Organisation family business.

- Tom Morgan and Ben Rumsby