Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger just rocked the NBA, agreeing to buy the Lakers this week, and if you don’t know who Kushner is, you’re about to get a crash course in big money and even bigger ambitions. While his father, Charles, a mega-rich real estate developer, pardoned criminal, and American ambassador to France, along with his elder brother Jared, have always been super hands-on and front-and-center, Josh has largely kept things behind the curtain. That all changes now, though, with this move for one of the league’s most iconic franchises.
Who Is Josh Kushner and Where Did This Money Come From?
Unlike Mark Walter, the previous Lakers owner, where everyone had to dig deep to learn about him, with Kushner it’s the opposite. There are a ton of stories out there to parse to understand the guy who just took over the Purple and Gold. The lion’s share of his wealth? That comes from Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm he launched way back in 2010 while still hitting the books at Harvard. He wasn’t messing around either, pulling in a cool $5 million from friends and family to kick things off. Then, in 2011, he bagged another $40 million from powerhouses like Princeton University and other big-deal endowments. That’s serious cash for a startup!
He quickly made some seriously smart bets, like Harry’s and Warby Parker, but none were bigger than Instagram. Get this: Thrive Capital valued Instagram at $500 million. A few days later, Facebook bought it for $1 billion! That’s a 2x return in less than a week, man! Talk about making it rain. Now, according to Forbes, Thrive Capital is valued at around $5 billion and manages a whopping $25 billion in assets, with investments in giants like Spotify, Stripe, and SpaceX.
The ‘Iconic Franchises’ Vision Lands in LA
So what does all this mean for the Lakers? It probably has a lot to do with Thrive Eternal, a new venture Kushner launched in April of this year. Their mission statement, right there on their website, is to “preserve iconic franchises and cultural institutions.” They’re talking about assets with qualities that technology simply cannot replicate. Think traditions, identity, shared experience. Their belief is that “In a world shaped by abundant intelligence where creation scales and distribution fragments, we believe they will matter even more.” It’s a bold philosophy, for sure.
This isn’t Kushner’s first rodeo in the sports world, either. That Thrive Eternal message came with the announcement of a stake purchase in the San Francisco Giants earlier this year. And get this: back in 2017, he and his family even tried to buy the Marlins! More recently, Thrive Eternal was a central figure this summer in FIFA’s attempt to sell off 20% of the World Cup rights, a plan that, by the way, failed spectacularly. Less than a month after that huge flop, he’s swooped in and bought the Lakers.
So, what’s next? You have to wonder how this unique vision for “iconic franchises” is going to play out in the NBA. With a guy like Kushner, who has a track record of incredibly savvy investments and a clear, stated philosophy, this Lakers ownership change could be a wild ride. Get ready to see how Thrive Eternal plans to “preserve” one of basketball’s absolute legends.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Silver Screen and Roll.
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