How Jared Kushner’s Saudi-funded Affinity Partners has invested over $1 billion – including in an obscure deal with WeWork’s ex-CEO Adam Neumann

Jared Kushner’s many conflicts of interest

Jared Kushner went from senior advisor in charge of managing Middle East peace during the Trump administration to managing a firm in charge of investing three billion dollars from sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

In April the New York Times reported that Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners, which has raised $3 billion from foreign investors, has invested more than $1.2 billion. As the company makes more investments, many overseas, it raises ethical issues and potential conflicts of interest as Kushner’s father-in-law Donald Trump runs for president.

He has taken money from government wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as from Terry Gou, a founder of Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer, whose role in Mr. Kushner’s firm has not been previously disclosed.

In July the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Ron Wyden (Dem-OR), announced a probe into Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners. Wyden described the conflicts of interest, counter-intelligence risks, and possible avoidance of compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (see the end of this article for more details) as several Middle Eastern governments pay tens of millions of dollars in management fees to Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

The letter from Senator Wyden estimates that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) alone may have paid Kushner’s firm at least $80 million in 2022 and 2023 combined ($40 million annually) in management fees, as well as additional payments covering expense reimbursements.

I have reported extensively on Saudi Arabian funding of Trump and Kushner here, the $3 billion in assets under management at Affinity Partners here, and the most recent filing from Affinity Partners here. I also wrote this story on how Jared Kushner launched the Abraham Accords Peace Institute nonprofit which is run by several executives from Affinity Partners – which adds another layer to Kushner’s conflicts of interest.

With all of the interest in Kushner and Affinity Partners, very few articles have provided a comprehensive overview of the known investments made by his firm. Following is a summary of the entities, locations and amounts of investments made by Affinity Partners, followed by additional detail on one of the most obscure deals in which Kushner invested in a firm along with his friend Adam Neumann, the former founder of WeWork.

Senator Wyden’s letter noted the “appearance that Affinity’s investors are motivated not by commercial interests of seeking a return on investment, but rather by strategic considerations of foreign nationals seeking to funnel money to U.S. individuals with personal connections to former President Trump.”

The list below of investments made by Affinity Partners includes at least two companies – Unybrands and QXO – that lost value shortly after Affinity invested in them. While the return on investment for Affinity Partner’s foreign investors is not known, the investors in Affinity Partners and the investments made by Affinity Partners should be monitored closely as foreign governments funnel money to Kushner with the potential goal of using this relationship to influence his father-in-law Trump, the de facto leader of the GOP.

Affinity Partner investment deals

Following are the deals that Jared Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners has invested in with links to source documents.

• Mosaic (California, U.S.) – co-led $200 million investment: The first big investment deal for Jared Kushner’s Affinity partners, reported by Axios, was an agreement to co-lead a $200 million funding round in a California-based fintech company called Mosaic. Axios noted it was surprising that the first deal for Affinity was in California and not in Israel, which had been reported by the Wall Street Journal as a priority for the firm. I had noted here that Thrive Capital run by Jared’s brother Joshua, had been part of a 2020 funding round for Mosaic.

• EGYM GmbH (Munich, Germany) – led $225 million investment: An article in TechCrunch last year reported that Affinity Partners led the investment of $225 million in a Munich-based smart fitness startup EGYM which planned to do an initial public offering.

• Shlomo Group Auto and Credit Operations (Israel) – $110 million: Calcalist reported Affinity invested $110 million to acquire 15% of Shlomo Group’s auto and credit operations and the money was intended to expand their automotive and credit operations to countries in the Middle East and North Africa. They noted an interesting item — that Shlomo was granting Affinity a loan of almost $50 million to finance the $110 million deal. The New York Times reported that “Kushner’s business partner in the car-leasing firm is part owner of Israel’s only domestic builder of warships, putting him in business with executives who are also major shareholders in an Israeli military contractor whose vessels have been used in the war in Gaza, armed with American-made weapons.”

• Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG) (United Arab Emirates) – led $200 million investment: AGBI described here how Affinity led a $200 million investment in EMPG, which owns leading Unite Arab Emirates classifieds platforms Bayut and Dubizzle. The Wall Street Journal said $150 million was invested in Dubizzle, which acquired UAE automotive website DriveArabia.com in May.

• Phoenix Insurance Agencies (Israel) – approximately $127 million plus option for another $127 million: A July 2024 press release announced that Affinity Partners had bought a 4.95% stake in Phoenix and had also committed to acquiring an additional 4.95%, subject to receipt of regulatory approval. The 4.95% stake is valued at approximately NIS 470 million or USD $127 million. A prior plan in 2023 to sell control of Phoenix to a consortium led by Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ fell through because of limitations on the UAE consortium investments in Israel.

• QXO Inc. (Connecticut, U.S.) – $150 million: In July 2024, QXO, Inc., a technology solutions company focused on the building products distribution industry, announced it had raised $650 million in a private placement, with $150 million from Affinity Partners and Jared Kushner became an Independent Director. A few days after the announcement, shares in QXO plummeted 81%. Investment News reported: “QXO Inc., a company that had boasted an implied valuation of more than $90 billion at one point last week, burned some investors badly late Monday when its thinly-traded shares spiraled sharply downwards. Shares of the investment vehicle built by Brad Jacobs sank 81% to $11.25 each in after-market trading. The Jared Kushner-linked firm unlocked millions of shares by registering a pair of private placements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, swiftly creating selling pressure.”

• Zamp SA (Brazil) – $200 million: Bloomberg reported that Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners joined the board of Brazilian fast-food operator Zamp SA after making an investment of about $200 million. This investment was made with with Mubadala Capital, owned by the UAE’s Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, which owns 58% of Zamp, which has over 1,000 Burger King and Popeyes restaurants in Brazil and is in talks to acquire the rights to Starbucks Corp as well.

• Unybrands (Florida, U.S.) – $75 million (and possibly up to $100-$200 million): CNBC reported that Kushner’s Affinity Partners invested $75 million in 2022 in Amazon aggregator Unybrands shortly before the company reported losses and started layoffs. This investment is described in more detail below, including information reported by the former Chief Technology Officer of Unybrands showing that Kushner’s Affinity Partners now controls Unybrands.

• Serbia and Albania Developments – over $500 million: Bloomberg reported that Affinity Partners was working on several billion-dollar deals in the Balkans. Affinity Partners has plans to transform Albania’s Sazan Island into a luxury Aman branded eco-resort community and the firm was also looking into renewable energy, data centers and AI projects (I found the news on the plans of Affinity Partners to develop a luxury Aman resort of interest because in 2022 I had reported that Aman was a significant tenant of Trump Tower, an item not yet covered by the mainstream media). Kushner researched potential deals in the Balkans with Asher Abehsera and Ric Grenell, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany under Trump, who hopes to be secretary of state in a future Trump administration. The New York Times reported these projects “benefited from relationships built in part during the Trump administration and directly involved the president of Serbia and the prime minister of Albania.” Kushner’s plans are stirring up local and international resentment over environmental issues and preferential treatment. One of the most controversial projects is renovating Serbia’s NATO-struck army headquarters and building a memorial complex “dedicated to all the victims of NATO aggression.” 

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Kushner’s Affinity Partners invested in Amazon aggregator Unybrands with WeWork’s former CEO Adam Neumann shortly before Unybrands started layoffs

A June CNBC story described how Jared Kushner’s post-White House deal-making included a badly timed investment of $75 million in an Amazon aggregator called Unybrands. Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners made this investment shortly before growth slowed and layoffs started.

Although the firm’s business started to tank, U.K. corporate filings show that Unybrands is now owned by Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners.

CNBC is the only mainstream media outlet to report on this obscure deal and how Kushner became involved through an introduction from the former founder and CEO of WeWork Adam Neumann.

Kushner was introduced to Unybrands by a tech entrepreneur whose company also had financial ties to Saudi Arabia, WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Prior to its failed IPO in 2019, WeWork had raised billions of dollars from SoftBank and its Saudi-backed Vision Fund. Neumann’s family office invested in Unybrands around the peak of the aggregator market in 2021, according to filings in the U.K., where the company has an operation. Neumann, who was ultimately ousted from WeWork by top SoftBank execs, introduced Kushner to Unybrands early the following year.

Highlights of Adam Neumann’s business deals and his association with Kushner

Adam Neumann founded WeWork in 2010 and filed to bring the company public in August 2019. Forbes reported that WeWork had been valued at $47 billion until pre-IPO filings showed large losses and the company valuation dropped to $10 billion. In September 2019 Neumann stepped down as CEO amid allegations of self-dealing. WeWork went public in 2021 and then in November 2023 filed for bankruptcy.

Shortly after Neumann left WeWork, Vanity Fair published an expose ‘Inside the Fall of WeWork’ which revealed that in the summer of 2018 Neumann had worked on Jared Kushner’s Middle East peace plan.

Last summer, some WeWork executives were shocked to discover Neumann was working on Jared Kushner’s Mideast peace effort. According to two sources, Neumann assigned WeWork’s director of development, Roni Bahar, to hire an advertising firm to produce a slick video for Kushner that would showcase what an economically transformed West Bank and Gaza would look like. (Bahar told me he only advised on the video and no WeWork resources were used.) Kushner showed a version of the video during his speech at the White House’s peace conference in Bahrain last summer.

After leaving WeWork Adam Neumann set up a family office called 166 2nd Financial Services to manage more than $700 million. Neumann launched a real estate startup Flow with $350 million from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He launched a similarly named company Flowcarbon also funded by Andreessen Horowitz. After plans to launch a “Goddess Nature Token” never happened, Flowcarbon is now refunding investors. Earlier this year Neumann announced plans to try to buy back WeWork and then announced that he did not want to buy WeWork anymore.

While the media had reported on Kushner’s friendship with Neumann and the 2018 Peace plan work, there has been little coverage about the investment made by Jared Kushner and Affinity Partners in Unybrands in 2022 alongside Adam Neumann and his company 166 2nd Financial Services.

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The former CTO of Unybrands estimates that Kushner’s Affinity Partners may have invested up to $200 million in Unybrands

CNBC had reported that in early 2022 Jared Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners had invested $75 million in Amazon aggregator Unybrands in a deal that had not been publicly disclosed.

Elvis Dieguez, the former Chief Technology Officer of Unybrands until December 2022 published two articles about the company this past July and August. He used the U.K. Companies House filings for Unybrands Ltd and Unybrands Operations Ltd to analyze the deal and the share ownership.

Dieguez described how the Amazon FBA (aka ‘Fulfillment by Amazon’) aggregator business had peaked in 2021 and then over the next two years the industry lost billions of dollars in investor funds.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners not only invested $75 million into Unybrands in 2022 as the business lost money and laid off employees, but it appears as if Affinity may have invested a total of $100 million up to $200 million and is now the majority owner.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners is now the significant owner of Unybrands

As noted in reporting by CNBC and Dieguez, Unybrands is now controlled by Affinity Partners. Following are links to the relevant filings and some additional details about the company.

• U.K. filings show that the significant owner of Unybrands Operations Ltd is UB Holdco Ltd.

• The significant owner of UB Holdco Ltd is AP Investments II Ltd.

• The significant owner of AP Investments II Ltd is Jared Kushner.

• The July Articles of Association for UB Holdco Ltd says that the “Affinity Investor Hurdle” is the aggregate of $32,500,000 (less $491,000) plus $75,000,000. The investor hurdle is a minimum rate of return or target rate investors expect on an investment.

• U.K. filings also show that Unybrands Operations is the significant owner of several other U.K. companies including: Boundless EC UK Ltd, The Healthy Dog Co Limited, Mabu Limited, Red King Products Limited, LAHC UK 1 Ltd, PETC UK 1 Ltd and Redfit Ltd.

In July Senator Wyden announced a probe into Kushner firm payments from Gulf States and potential FARA loophole

In July Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, announced a probe into Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners, which reported that 99 percent of the billions of dollars it manages comes from foreign sources — the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

Affinity’s Unusually High Fees Charged to Foreign Clients Amount to Tens of Millions in Profits Each Year; Wyden Seeks Records on Employees, Compensation, Communications with Foreign Government Entities; Letter also Raises Concerns with Investment Fund Disclosure Loophole.

Senator Wyden wrote to Affinity Partners Chief Financial Officer Lauren Key: 

It is deeply concerning that several Middle Eastern governments are using funds managed by Affinity as a means to pay tens of millions of dollars in fees every year to former President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, creating significant conflicts of interest and potential counterintelligence risks. These arrangements also raise concerns that Affinity’s exclusively foreign funded private investment funds are being exploited as a loophole by Mr. Kushner and other former U.S. government officials as a means to avoid complying with the Foreign Agents Registration Act and other U.S. laws requiring U.S. persons to disclose payments from foreign governments.

This recent story in the Florida Bulldog reported on the people working for Kushner at Affinity Partners. Out of 33 full and part-time employees they identified 11 former U.S. government officials who were in the Trump administration, including: former Maj. Gen. Miguel Correa, Avi Berkowitz, Thomas Storch, Kevin Hassett, Cale Clingenpeel, Ian Brekke, Charlton Boyd, NIck Butterfield, Cassidy Dumbault Luna, John Rader and Chad Mizelle.

Major General Miguel Correa had commanded Army and Special Operations forces in Africa, Europe and South America. In 2020 the Department of Defense assigned Correa as senior director for Gulf Affairs, Middle Eastern Affairs Directorate, NSC, Executive Office of the President, Washington, D.C.

Wyden specifically noted the presence of retired Major General Correa on Affinity’s payroll “raises concerns regarding compliance with the emoluments clause of the constitution” which “prohibits retired U.S. military personnel from accepting payments from foreign governments” – including commercial entities controlled by a foreign government – unless they receive waivers.

Several executives of Kushner’s Affinity Partners also run the Abraham Accords Peace Institute nonprofit Jared Kushner launched in 2021

I previously reported on the Abraham Accords Peace Institute nonprofit that Jared Kushner set-up in 2021 and two directors of the nonprofit – Cassidy Luna and Charlton Boyd – who work at Affinity Partners.

While Kushner is investing billions of dollars for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, executives at his firm are also running the nonprofit Abraham Accords Peace Institute, another example of how Kushner leverages nonbusiness ventures along with his profit making work.

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The media should continue to shine a light on Jared Kushner’s businesses, how he is funded, where he is spending money, and the overlap of his for-profit and nonprofit ventures.

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