SpaceX's June IPO, sized at $1.77 trillion, the one-day agreement to buy the Lakers, and a FIFA plan that flamed out almost instantly all had a common thread: Josh Kushner. Sixteen years after starting Thrive Capital, the 41-year-old is pushing beyond venture and growth equity into public markets and owning marquee assets for the long haul.
Bloomberg's Billionaires Index pegs his fortune near $17.5 billion, placing him in the world's top 500 wealthiest for the first time. A spokesperson declined to comment on that figure. As Kushner put it to investors in August, "We have never believed that the traditional boundaries of our industry need to define us."
Thrive now oversees more than $65 billion, up from roughly $15 billion three years ago. Back then, investors such as Mukesh Ambani, Jorge Lemann, and Henry Kravis put money in at a $5.3 billion valuation, which drew notice since it equaled roughly one-third of assets then.
Thrive has added public-company stakes, recently buying into Amazon.com Inc. and Shopify Inc. It is also a major investor in OpenAI, first backing the ChatGPT maker in 2023 and continuing across multiple funds, and it holds positions in would-be IPO names like Stripe and Anduril. An OpenAI offering as early as next year could be a significant payday for backers.
The expansion comes through three distinct strategies. Thrive Holdings has raised in excess of $2 billion to acquire and run everyday businesses such as accounting firms and IT service providers, aiming to modernize them with artificial intelligence. In August, backers including SoftBank Group Corp., Altimeter Capital Management, and D1 Capital supported the unit at a $12 billion valuation. Kushner's letter says Thrive Holdings has acquired over 70 businesses and has a 35-person team.
Thrive Eternal aims at assets it believes will endure in an AI-driven era, concentrating on "assets rooted in identity, culture, community, history, and physical experience." It quietly acquired a minority interest in the San Francisco Giants in April. Two months later, Kushner and Bob Iger weighed an NBA expansion bid in Las Vegas, then shifted to the Los Angeles Lakers after owner Mark Walter's companies became entangled in a federal investigation. The Lakers agreement came together in a single day.
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A key catalyst for this year's leap was SpaceX's IPO in June at $1.77 trillion. Thrive's initial check into Elon Musk's space company came when it carried a $38 billion valuation. Subsequently, the firm invested in the AI coding startup Cursor at a $9.9 billion valuation, having initially entered when Cursor was valued at $400 million; 14 months afterward, SpaceX acquired Cursor for $60 billion.
Those gains have compounded. Bloomberg estimates the firm has produced in excess of $6 billion in carried interest since inception, largely over the last three years, with much of it still unrealized. Kushner's 2026 letter says Thrive produced "more than $1 billion of liquidity" over the past 12 months and anticipates the possibility of billions more in the coming quarters.
Thrive is seeking a minority investment "similarly sized" to its last round from its original shareholder group and new partners. Based on asset growth since then, Bloomberg calculates Thrive's value at about $23 billion. Kushner's letter also notes that more than half of assets under management now reflect investment gains rather than fresh capital.
At $12.5 billion, the Lakers transaction sits 25% higher than what Mark Walter paid less than a year ago and surpasses the Boston Celtics' $6.1 billion sale. Kushner, together with Thrive Eternal, is putting up capital to help fund the acquisition.
Last month, the NBA altered its private-equity guidelines so that institutional investment firms can participate alongside their managers, a setup previously barred to avoid perceived conflicts. "This was a deal that was important to the NBA," said sports consultant Marc Ganis. The change was part of a broader policy review, but a person familiar said it moved faster because of the Lakers transaction.
In projections shared with potential investors, Thrive targets growing the team's earnings over the next decade to around $600 million from $129 million last season, exploring options like more single-game and fewer season tickets, additional sponsorships, and a new arena.
Not every move has worked. In late July, FIFA considered securing up to $4.2 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, inviting external capital for the first time, with Thrive Eternal slated to head the consortium. After pushback from several regional football groups, the plan collapsed within days.
UEFA asked a federal judge for authority to issue subpoenas seeking Kushner and Thrive's documents and testimony as it evaluates potential legal action related to how FIFA handled the deal. "Everyone associated with that one has got a few bruises," Ganis said. Last month Kushner said Thrive "failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football." UEFA has not accused Kushner or Thrive of wrongdoing.
The Lakers purchase also drew fan criticism given Kushner's New Jersey roots and Thrive's New York base. Iger's relationships across Los Angeles and the NBA have helped bridge that gap. Iger, 75, said in an earlier Bloomberg interview that, after hearing the Thrive Eternal pitch, he returned to work with Kushner in an advisory role, noting, "What I thought was going to be a slower onboarding process is suddenly accelerated significantly." He is set to leave Disney's board by year-end. Thrive and Kushner have long tried "not to take the spotlight away from the founders that we partner with," a spokesperson said, but front-and-center ownership makes staying out of view tougher.
Thrive's mix of early-stage wins, public stakes, and long-term ownership is one way to chase returns across very different lanes. Jumping from about $15 billion to more than $65 billion in three years, plus generating liquidity and investment gains, gives it the firepower to keep hunting for outsized outcomes.
If OpenAI lists as soon as next year, that could add another spark. The Lakers plan underscores how value can come from operations, not just financial structuring. And the FIFA blowup is a reminder that politics can upend even well-backed ideas.
For regular investors, the broader takeaway is that capital is flowing toward things boosted by AI and things built to withstand it. The opportunity set is widening, from tech names to local sports teams, and the next few years will test which assets hold up best.
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