There’s a Kushner who has been in the news a whole lot lately, and for the first time in a while it’s not Jared. Sure, the first son-in-law still gets plenty of press for the bang-up job he’s been doing on behalf of the Trump administration in Iran, Gaza, and Ukraine and for the mass protests he and Ivanka have inspired in Albania with their little island project. But recently it’s Jared’s younger brother, Josh, who seems to be everywhere: buying the Lakers with the former president of Disney; at the center of the FIFA imbroglio; plowing billions into AI; attending Taylor Swift’s wedding.
As the younger Kushner has historically kept a much lower profile than his big bro, you may have questions such as, How does Josh feel about Donald Trump? Is he richer than Jared? Does he also believe he can bring peace to the Middle East on account of having read 25 books on Israeli-Palestinian relations? Herewith, a Josh Kushner primer.
When the news broke on Wednesday that Kushner, along with former Disney chief Bob Iger, was buying the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal valuing the NBA franchise at $12.5 billion, the response from many was, Wait, what? Didn’t someone else just buy the team? That confusion was likely based on the fact that, yes, only just last summer, investor Mark Walter had purchased a controlling stake in the Lakers, then valuing the team at $10 billion. According to The Athletic, “Kushner reached out to Walter on Friday and the deal quickly came together over the weekend … Walter, per the source, wasn’t necessarily looking to sell — the offer from Kushner and Iger was just too good to pass up.”
