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★ Private Action

Saudi sovereign fund hands Kushner's firm $2 billion over its panel's objections

Saudi-Trump NexusTrump Family Business Dealings

Filed July 2021$2,000,000,000

★ The Brief

What happened

Six months after leaving his White House senior-adviser role, Jared Kushner won a $2 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund for his new firm, Affinity Partners, after the fund's own screening panel unanimously rejected it as "unsatisfactory in all aspects."

Who enabled it

Who benefits

Deal or steal?

The full board, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overrode the rejection within days; the 1.25% annual fee guarantees Kushner roughly $25 million a year regardless of returns. Kushner had defended the prince after the 2018 Khashoggi killing and helped broker $110 billion in U.S. arms sales.

Six months after leaving the White House, Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) for his newly formed private equity firm, Affinity Partners. PIF's own five-member Board Investment Committee — reviewing the deal under the code name "Project Astro" — unanimously voted against it at a June 30, 2021 meeting, citing the inexperience of Kushner's team, due diligence that found the firm's operations "unsatisfactory in all aspects," a management fee that "seems excessive," and the public-relations risks of Kushner's prior role as senior adviser to his father-in-law, then-President Donald Trump.

Actors

Who pushed it · 2

Who initiated, paid, or pushed the action.

  • Mohammed bin Salman
    Mohammed bin Salman

    As chair of the Public Investment Fund's board and the kingdom's paramount decision-maker, overrode the unanimous objection of PIF's screening committee to approve the $2 billion investment in Kushner's firm. Beneficiary of Kushner's defense of the crown prince inside the Trump White House after U.S. intelligence concluded he approved the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

  • Public Investment Fund

    Saudi Arabia's $620 billion sovereign wealth fund. Its Board Investment Committee voted unanimously against the Kushner deal at the June 30, 2021 meeting (codename "Project Astro"); the full board, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overrode the panel within days and approved the $2 billion commitment.

Beneficiaries

Who gained · 2

Who stood to gain.

  • Jared Kushner
    Jared Kushner

    Founded Affinity Partners in 2021 after leaving his White House senior-adviser role six months earlier; secured the $2 billion PIF commitment that became the firm's cornerstone investment. The 1.25 percent annual management fee on PIF's capital generates roughly $25 million per year for the firm regardless of performance.

    Jared Kushner has paid into Trump’s orbit:

  • Affinity Partners

    Kushner's newly formed private equity firm. The $2 billion PIF commitment made the Saudi government the firm's cornerstone investor and constituted the bulk of its reported assets under management. In exchange, PIF received a stake of at least 28 percent in Affinity's main investment vehicle.

Sector-wide beneficiaries

Sources

Further reading