Weeks After FIFA Scrapped a $4.2 Billion Deal with His Fund, Joshua Kushner Agreed to Buy the Lakers
The Lakers deal values the franchise at $12.5 billion, three times what he was set to pay FIFA. Kushner is Jared Kushner’s younger brother and is married to supermodel Karlie Kloss. The couple was spotted outside Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in July.
The Lakers deal values the franchise at $12.5 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the sale who wasn’t authorized to discuss it publicly.
Kushner, 41, made his fortune in venture capital. He founded Thrive Capital in 2009 with early backing from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and bet early on OpenAI, Instagram and Spotify. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, his partner on the Lakers bid, bought a minority stake in Thrive in 2022 and became an advisor this year.
His path into sports ownership has been years in the making. He took a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, sold it to buy into the Miami Heat in 2024, and his firm’s holding company, Thrive Eternal, announced a minority stake in the San Francisco Giants in April. Kloss picked up a limited partnership stake in the New York Liberty in May.
The FIFA plan would have sold a fifth of a new company running soccer’s top events, including the World Cup, to Thrive Eternal for $4.2 billion. Backlash killed it within days of the July announcement.
He’s the brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump‘s son-in-law and a special envoy in the current administration. Joshua has a longer record of donations to Democratic candidates, and in 2018 was heard saying “we survived Donald Trump” when listing the year’s challenges.
The Lakers agreement still needs to be finalized and approved by the NBA’s board of governors.
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