The family business · 2024 campaign · № 38

Family business

Emirati sovereign wealth fund invests more than $200 million with Kushner's Affinity Partners

Date
, Reported by The New York Times
Subject
United Arab Emirates
Benefit
Investments and funds
Government
United Arab Emirates Freedom House: Not Free (2023)
Beneficiary
Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)
Amount
more than $200 million
Topic
Ethics & conflicts
Era
2024 campaign

What happened

The New York Times reported on March 30, 2023 that a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates had invested more than $200 million with Affinity Partners, the private equity firm Jared Kushner founded after leaving the White House, citing two people told about the transaction. The date of the investment was not reported. The UAE embassy in Washington declined to comment and an Affinity official did not respond to the Times. The Times reported that Emirati officials were at first reluctant to invest, in part because of the political risks. As a White House adviser Kushner helped orchestrate the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the UAE in 2020. In June 2024 Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden opened an investigation of the firm's payments from Gulf funds; Affinity's chief legal officer said the firm "has always acted appropriately."

Sources

  1. Kushner Firm Got Hundreds of Millions From 2 Persian Gulf Nations The New York Times (via Internet Archive), Mar 30, 2023
  2. White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report, Jan 4, 2024
  3. Jared Kushner's Saudi-backed fund paid millions in fees, makes no profit The New York Times (via The Seattle Times), Sep 26, 2024
  4. United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report Freedom House, 2023