Joshua Kushner

Joshua Kushner
Born (1985-06-12) June 12, 1985
Livingston, New Jersey
Alma mater Harvard College (AB)
Harvard Business School (MBA)
Occupation Principal director of Kushner Properties
Owner of Vostu and Thrive Capital
Parent(s) Charles Kushner
Seryl (Stadtmauer) Kushner
Relatives Jared Kushner (brother)
Ivanka Trump (sister-in-law)
Donald Trump Jr. (brother-in-law of brother)
Eric Trump (brother-in-law of brother)
Donald Trump (father-in-law of brother)

Joshua Kushner (born June 12, 1985) is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder and Managing Partner of the investment firm Thrive Capital and co-founder of Oscar Insurance, and the son of real estate magnate Charles Kushner.

Early life and personal life

Joshua Kushner grew up in a Jewish family in Livingston, New Jersey.[1] He is the son of Seryl (née Stadtmauer) and prominent real estate developer Charles Kushner, who has an estimated net worth of $500 million.[2][3] His brother, Jared Kushner, heads the family real estate empire and graduated from Harvard University in 2003. Joshua graduated from Harvard University in 2008 and Harvard Business School in 2011.[4][5] He is dating supermodel Karlie Kloss since 2012 Victoria's Secret Show.

Career

Scene, Vostu and Unithrive

During his sophomore year, Kushner was founding Executive Editor of Scene, a new Brooks Brothers-sponsored student-publication that aimed to be "Harvard's version of Vogue and Vanity Fair."[6] In its inaugural issue, the "society-style glossy" featured students modeling Brooks Brothers clothing and a peek into one junior’s suite at the Ritz-Carlton.[7] According to The Harvard Crimson, Scene "faced blistering criticism upon its release," with students going so far as creating a “Scene Magazine is Bullshit” Facebook group criticizing it for its "completely ludicrous...skewed portrayal of the Harvard community" and lack of models who were minorities."[7] Writing in the Crimson, Catherine Vaughan criticized the magazine's "extravagance and elitism" in depicting the lifestyles of Harvard students "whose incomes fall in the top 1 percent of the country."[8]

In the spring of his Junior year, with two graduate students he pooled $10,000 to found social network Vostu,[2] which aimed to "fill a void left by online communities in which English is the lingua franca," like Facebook. According to Kushner, Latin America was a promising market for a Facebook-alternative and new social networking site because "[it was] a place where Internet use is increasing every year and technology is booming at a rapid pace."[9]

The year after graduation, he also co-founded a startup called Unithrive with the cousin of the president of Kiva, who was also a Harvard student. Unithrive was inspired by the peer-to-peer loan model of Kiva, but aimed to "ease the crisis in paying for college" by matching "alumni lenders to cash-strapped students..who [could] post photographs and biographical information and request up to $2,000," interest-free for repayment within five years of graduation.[10] The startup is no longer operational.

Goldman Sachs and Thrive Capital

After graduating from Harvard, Kushner started his career in the Private Equity Group at Goldman Sachs, in the Merchant Banking Division,[11] but left after a short stint to found Thrive Capital in 2009, his private equity and venture capital firm that focuses on media and internet investments.[12][13] Since its founding, Thrive has raised $750 million from institutional investors, including Princeton University.[14] Thrive has raised several capital funds, including Thrive II, which raised $40 million in 2011, Thrive III, which raise $150 million in 2012, and Thrive IV, which raised $400 million in September 2014.[14][15] According to a profile in Forbes, Thrive was one of three firms (joining Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners) to invest in Instagram's $50 million Series B round at a valuation of $500 million in 2012. Forbes wrote that after Instagram sold to Facebook, "Thrive had doubled its money in 72 hours."[11]

For his work with Thrive, Kushner was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Inc. Magazine’s 35 Under 35, Crain’s 40 Under 40 and Vanity Fair’s Next Establishment.[16][17][18][19]

Oscar

Kushner is also a co-founder of Oscar Health, a health insurance start-up. Founded in 2012, Oscar has raised $320 million in financing and is valued at $1.75 billion. The company currently insures over 40,000 members across New York and New Jersey.[20] The company has been named to CNBC’s Disruptor 50, Inc. Magazine's Most Innovative Startups and MM&M Top 40 Healthcare Transformers.[21][22][23]

Cadre

In 2015 Kushner founded a new company called Cadre with his brother Jared Kushner and their friend Ryan Williams, with Williams as Cadre's CEO. Cadre is a technology platform designed to help certain types of clients, such as family offices and endowments, invest in real estate. The company has raised more than $250 million in capital.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Forbes Features Members of the Tribe In 30 Under 30". Jspace.com. 2011-12-29. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  2. 1 2 "The 26-Year-Old VC Who Cashed In On Instagram". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  3. ↑ "50 Wealthiest New Jerseyans". Insurance News Net. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  4. ↑ Alyson Shontell (2010-10-28). "Here Is Why VC And Entrepreneur Joshua Kushner Is Bothering To Get His MBA". Business Insider. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  5. ↑ "Q+A Joshua Kushner". Details. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  6. ↑ "DOORDROPPED: Which Scene? | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  7. 1 2 "Glossies Gear Up For Second Run | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  8. ↑ "Criticize Scene Magazine For False Diversity, Not Its Typos | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  9. ↑ "Students Start Spanish Social Site | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  10. ↑ Salkin, Allen (2009-06-12). "I’m Going to Harvard. Will You Sponsor Me?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  11. 1 2 "The 26-Year-Old VC Who Cashed In On Instagram". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  12. ↑ Rusli, Evelyn M. (2011-08-22). "Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital Raises $40 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  13. ↑ "Joshua Kushner worked for Goldman Sachs before he started Thrive Capital, which invested in Instagram and Kickstarter". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
  14. 1 2 Rusli, Evelyn M. (2012-09-06). "Thrive Capital Raises $150 Million Fund, Bolstering Profile". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  15. ↑ "Venture Firm Thrive Capital Raises Another Fund". The New York Times. 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  16. ↑ Vardi, Nathan. "Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital, 26 - In Photos: 30 Under 30: Finance". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  17. ↑ "Insurance in the U.S. is Broken. Oscar Wants to Fix It". Inc. Magazine. 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  18. ↑ "Crain's 40 Under Forty Joshua Kushner, 28". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  19. ↑ Deligter, Jack (2012-03-21). "The Next Establishment". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  20. ↑ "Oscar, a Health Insurance Start-Up, Valued at $1.5 Billion". The New York Times. 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  21. ↑ "CNBC Disruptor 50". CNBC. 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  22. ↑ "The 10 Most Innovative Startups of 2014". Inc. Magazine. 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  23. ↑ "Mario Schlosser: Top 40 Healthcare Transformers". MM&M. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  24. ↑ "Kushner Brothers Combine Real Estate and Technology". The New York Times. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
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