Jared Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law, married to Ivanka Trump, and was a senior White House adviser during Trump's first term, where he helped broker the 2020 Abraham Accords and led Middle East policy. After leaving government in 2021 he founded Affinity Partners, a Miami-based private-equity firm. Forbes estimated he reached billionaire status in 2025.
Affinity manages close to $5 billion, the bulk of it from Gulf governments: about $2 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, secured over the objections of the fund's own advisers, plus roughly $1.5 billion from Abu Dhabi's Lunate and the Qatar Investment Authority. Some 2026 filings indicate the firm's assets have grown past $6 billion.
In Trump's second term Kushner has again taken a central, if informal, role in U.S. foreign policy, helping lead negotiations on Israel and Gaza, Russia and Ukraine, and Iran, while continuing to raise money from the same foreign governments, an overlap that has drawn congressional investigations into conflicts of interest.
What they control
- Affinity Partners, a private-equity firm with roughly $5 billion in assets
- Deep financial ties to Gulf sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi
- An informal but influential role in U.S. Middle East and foreign-policy negotiations
- Family proximity to the president as Trump's son-in-law
- A bridge between private foreign capital and U.S. statecraft
Key institutions & holdings
Miami private-equity firm; about $5 billion in assets, mostly from Gulf sovereign funds.
Put about $2 billion into Affinity over its advisers' objections.
Co-leads Middle East negotiations as a volunteer adviser.
Key facts
- Founded Affinity Partners in 2021 after leaving the White House.
- Affinity manages close to $5 billion, including about $2 billion from Saudi Arabia's PIF and roughly $1.5 billion from Abu Dhabi's Lunate and the Qatar Investment Authority.
- Forbes estimated Kushner reached billionaire status in 2025.
- As Trump's son-in-law and adviser, he helped broker the 2020 Abraham Accords in the first term.
- In 2026, Senate Finance and House Oversight Democrats opened investigations into his fundraising from Middle Eastern governments while he negotiated U.S. foreign policy.
Timeline
- 1981Born in Livingston, New Jersey.
- 2009Marries Ivanka Trump.
- 2017-2021Serves as Senior Advisor in the first Trump White House, helping lead Middle East policy and the Abraham Accords.
- 2021Founds Affinity Partners and secures about $2 billion from Saudi Arabia's PIF.
- 2024Abu Dhabi's Lunate and the Qatar Investment Authority add about $1.5 billion.
- 2025Reaches billionaire status (Forbes) and takes on an informal envoy role in Trump's second term.
- 2026Congressional Democrats investigate conflicts of interest between his fundraising and his foreign-policy role.
Controversies
Gulf money and conflicts of interest · 2022-2026
Kushner raised billions from Saudi, Qatari, and Emirati government funds for Affinity while simultaneously co-leading U.S. negotiations in the Middle East, prompting 2026 congressional investigations into whether private fundraising and public diplomacy improperly overlap.
Saudi PIF investment over objections · 2022
A Saudi PIF advisory panel reportedly flagged concerns about Affinity, including the firm's inexperience and its fees, before the fund's leadership invested about $2 billion anyway.
Fees without clear returns · 2024
A Senate Finance investigation reported that Affinity collected large management fees while showing little in the way of returns to investors, raising questions about what the foreign money was buying.
Network
- Donald TrumpFather-in-lawPresident whose administration Kushner advises while raising Gulf capital.
- Ivanka TrumpWifeTrump's daughter and a former White House adviser.
- Mohammed bin SalmanPatron / allySaudi crown prince whose PIF anchored Affinity.
- Ron WydenInvestigatorSenate Finance Democrat scrutinizing Affinity's foreign funding.
Why this matters
Kushner's firm turns political access into private capital: billions from foreign governments flow to a fund run by the president's son-in-law, even as he negotiates U.S. policy with those same governments. That blurring of statecraft and private finance makes it hard for the public to know whether American foreign policy is being shaped by the national interest or by the interests of Affinity's Gulf backers, the core worry behind the congressional investigations.