Josh Kushner
American venture capitalist; founder of Thrive Capital
| Josh Kushner
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 June 1985 (Forbes) |
| Nationality | American |
| Residence | Puck Building, New York City (Forbes) |
| Occupation | Founder and managing partner, Thrive Capital |
| Known for | Thrive Capital; Oscar Health; Los Angeles Lakers purchase |
| Parents | Charles Kushner |
| Spouse(s) | Karlie Kloss |
| Sibling(s) | Jared Kushner |
| Education | BA, Harvard University; MBA, Harvard Business School (Business Insider) |
Josh Kushner (Joshua Kushner; born 12 June 1985) is an American venture capitalist who founded and runs Thrive Capital. The firm has backed Instagram, Spotify, Stripe and OpenAI.[1] In August 2026 he and Bob Iger agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for US$12.5 billion.[1][2] On 10 November 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Josh Kushner 171st in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$16.7 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as venture capital .[1][3] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Josh Kushner 823rd, at US$5.2 billion.[4] He is the son of Charles Kushner, US ambassador to France, and the brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law. He has described himself as a lifelong Democrat.[2][5]
Education and early ventures
Business Insider reports that Kushner graduated from Harvard with a degree in government in 2008. He worked for a year at Goldman Sachs and then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2011. As an undergraduate he co-founded Vostu, a Brazil-based social network that became a gaming platform.[5] He co-founded the health insurer Oscar Health in 2012 and is vice-chair of its board.[5] Forbes describes Oscar as built around Obamacare.[1]
Thrive Capital
Sources differ on when Thrive was founded: Business Insider gives 2009 and Fortune 2011.[5][2] Forbes estimates that Kushner owns about 66% of Thrive and values the firm at US$10.5 billion. Thrive raised US$10 billion for its tenth fund in February 2026 and manages more than US$65 billion. Its investors include Bob Iger, Henry Kravis, Mukesh Ambani, Jorge Paulo Lemann and Xavier Niel.[1] OpenAI. Fortune reports that Thrive has invested more than US$2 billion in OpenAI.[2] CNBC reported that Thrive invested about US$1 billion in December 2025 at a US$285 billion valuation, and that OpenAI took a stake in Thrive Holdings. Sam Altman wrote that he was "extremely grateful to work with Josh".[6] In 2024 Thrive invested US$75 million in the film studio A24, and Kushner and Kloss bought the publication rights to Life.[5]
Los Angeles Lakers
In August 2026 Kushner and Thrive agreed with Bob Iger to buy the Lakers for US$12.5 billion.[1] Fortune reported that the deal still needed approval from the NBA Board of Governors and would be the highest price ever paid for a US professional sports team.[2]
Family
Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty in 2005 to tax evasion, retaliating against a federal witness and lying to the FEC, and served two years in prison.[5] He was pardoned by Trump in 2020 and became US ambassador to France in May 2025.[2][1] CNBC described Josh Kushner as having deep connections with the White House through his father and brother.[6] He married the model Karlie Kloss in 2018. Forbes says they live in a penthouse in the family-owned Puck Building in New York, which is also Thrive's headquarters.[5][1]
Wealth
Forbes lists venture capital as the source of his wealth and classes him as self-made.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 5 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2022. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1513 | 2.0 | – | – |
| 2023 | 787 | 3.6 | 314 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 896 | 3.6 | 347 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 948 | 3.8 | 295 | 5.2 |
| 2026 | 823 | 5.2 | 69 | 16.7 |
Political activity
A spokesperson told Esquire in 2016 that Kushner was a lifelong Democrat who did not vote for Trump. He told Forbes in 2017 that he supported leaders who shared his "liberal values".[5] Business Insider cited OpenSecrets data showing donations to Democratic committees and candidates. It also cited Axios as reporting a US$50,000 donation to March for Our Lives in 2018.[5] Federal contribution records filed under his name in New York are summarised below.[7]
Across the 3 non-memo records retrieved for the 2022–2026 cycles, the filtered total is US$253,300 (a lower bound). The largest recipient committees, as named in the filings, were GROWTH DEMOCRATS (US$250,000), TORRES FOR CONGRESS (US$3,300).[7]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $253,300 | 3 | GROWTH DEMOCRATS ($250,000); TORRES FOR CONGRESS ($3,300) |
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
Mukesh Ambani is among Thrive's investors.[1]
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
United States: Kushner's father is US ambassador to France, and his brother is Donald Trump's son-in-law.[2][6]
Other international links
France: his father, Charles Kushner, became US ambassador in May 2025.[1] Brazil: he co-founded the Brazil-based platform Vostu.[5]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Josh Kushner (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/josh-kushner/) Forbes, live record, read 10 November 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Orianna Rosa Royle, Before buying the Lakers for $12.5 billion, Joshua Kushner made a $1.3 billion bet on OpenAI Fortune, 14 August 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 10 November 2026 17:20 UTC, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Talia Lakritz, Meet Josh Kushner, Karlie Kloss' Husband With Ties to Trump Business Insider, 27 June 2024, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Arjun Kharpal, Ashley Capoot and Kate Rooney, Thrive Capital invested roughly $1 billion in OpenAI, source says CNBC, 25 February 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "KUSHNER, JOSHUA"; 2026 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried together with the same parameters; top 100 records by amount; records filtered by employer/occupation and name, memo entries excluded U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 10 November 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.