Affinity Partners

On January 21, 2021, the day after Trump’s first term ended, Jared Kushner incorporated in Delaware the company that later became Affinity Partners. Its registered investment adviser entity is A Fin Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company that does business as Affinity Partners, with its principal office in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.⁠[1][2][3][3][4][3]

In June 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) committed $2 billion to Affinity, becoming its earliest and largest investor. Professional staff on the PIF investment committee had opposed the investment, citing Affinity management’s limited private equity experience, operational due diligence that was “unsatisfactory in all aspects” and fees that seemed excessive, but the PIF board, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overruled them. Sovereign wealth money from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates followed. On August 25, 2021, A Fin Management LLC’s registration as an investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission became effective; its regulatory filings list Kushner as founder and chief executive officer since June 2021.⁠[5][6][5][5][5][5][1][1][4][3]

By March 2022, Affinity had raised $3 billion but had not yet announced a first close or made any investments. Kushner and three other directors of the firm, Avi Berkowitz, Bret Pearlman and Asad Naqvi, planned to visit Israel to meet 13 to 15 companies valued from $300 million to more than $1 billion; the firm said it aimed to invest in technology, cybersecurity, fintech, healthcare, clean energy, artificial intelligence and traditional industry, leading rounds or taking minority stakes rather than control.⁠[7][7][7][7][7][7][7][7][7]

Affinity’s early investments included Zamp, an Abu Dhabi-backed operator of fast food restaurants in Brazil, and the German smart fitness company EGYM; it also invested $150 million in a UAE search platform for property, vehicles and jobs and $200 million in a California company providing credit for solar projects, with fewer than ten investments chosen by 2023. A 2024 regulatory filing listed 33 nonclerical employees, 20 of them performing investment advisory functions; several employees had served in the Trump administration, including former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett, former Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz and former acting Homeland Security general counsel Chad Mizelle.⁠[1][8][8][2][2][2][2]

In September 2023, Affinity invested NIS 570 million (about $150 million) in Israel’s Shlomo Group for a 15% stake in its car rental and credit business, at a valuation of NIS 3.8 billion, its first investment in Israel.⁠[8][8][1]

In 2024, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat, opened an inquiry into Affinity, writing in June to its chief financial officer, Lauren Key, that private funds taking money exclusively from foreign politically exposed investors present heightened national security risks. On September 24 he wrote to Chief Legal Officer Chad Mizelle that, in a July briefing to committee staff, Affinity had disclosed that foreign investors had committed about $3 billion: the PIF pays an annual 1.25% management fee on its $2 billion commitment, five other foreign investors, including sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and the UAE and Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou, pay 2%, and one more investor has not been identified; the investment period runs from June 2021 to August 2026, after which investors can renegotiate or withdraw.⁠[9][9][5][5][5][5][5][5][5]

Wyden wrote that Affinity had collected about $157 million in management fees, including $87 million directly from the Saudi government, had deployed only about $535 million of client capital by the end of 2023 and about $1.1 billion by July 2024, and that its funds had generated no return and distributed no earnings to clients. He argued Affinity was likely part of a compensation scheme to circumvent the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and raised concerns about officials of the Albanian and Serbian governments approaching Affinity about real estate partnerships. Mizelle called the criticism political, said the firm had complied with federal laws and ethics rules and that the delay in returning profits was not unusual, and described Affinity as an SEC-registered investment firm that has always acted appropriately.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][10][9][9]

In July 2024, Affinity paid NIS 466 million ($128.5 million) for a 4.95% stake in the Israeli financial group Phoenix, bought from the U.S. funds Centerbridge and Gallatin Point as they relinquished control, along with an option to buy another 4.95% at the same price subject to approval by Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority. After about six months of review, the regulator approved on January 15, 2025, raising Affinity’s holding to about 9.9% for a total investment of about NIS 932 million and making it Phoenix’s largest shareholder; the approval capped its voting rights at 5%.⁠[11][1][12][11][11][13][13][13][12][14]

In December 2024, Kushner disclosed on the podcast “Invest Like The Best” that Affinity had raised an additional $1.5 billion that year from the Qatar Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi-based asset manager Lunate, extending its first fund’s investment period to 2029 and bringing its assets under management to about $4.6 billion. He said raising early was meant to “preemptively try to avoid any conflicts,” adding, “We don’t have to raise capital for the next four years.”⁠[15][15][15][8][6][6]

In December 2024, about three weeks before Trump’s second inauguration, Kushner received permission from the Albanian government to develop a luxury resort on Sazan, the country’s only island in the Mediterranean, one of Affinity’s best-publicized investments.⁠[8][8]

In March 2026, Kushner disclosed that Affinity had made 28 investments so far. Around the same time, The New York Times reported that while Kushner was serving as a Trump administration negotiator in the Middle East, the firm approached investors, including foreign governments with an interest in his diplomatic work, about at least $5 billion in new financing, and that under an earlier deal the PIF has the first chance to invest when Affinity raises new money; the White House said Kushner “only acts in the best interests of the American public.” The firm’s March 22, 2026, regulatory filing listed six private funds, $6,160,297,411 in assets under management and about 30 employees.⁠[1][6][6][6][3][3][3]

On April 17, 2026, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin wrote to Kushner opening an investigation, saying Affinity managed about $6.16 billion, including $1.2 billion added in the past year, with about 99% of its funding from foreign sources, and that Affinity had refused to cooperate with House Democrats’ first inquiry in 2022.⁠[16][16][16]

On July 28, 2026, Affinity announced that, with Jefferies as sole global coordinator, it had sold about 2.5% of Phoenix’s shares, a quarter of its holding, at NIS 168.5 per share (a 4% discount to that day’s opening price) to three international long-term institutional investors for about NIS 1.05 billion; the largest buyer was Fidelity Investments. Afterward Affinity held about 7.4%, remaining the largest shareholder, having recovered its entire original investment and received about NIS 230 million in dividends over the holding period. Affinity said it would remain a long-term shareholder and explore cooperation with management in areas including regional growth, reinsurance and asset management.⁠[17][18][12][17][12][18][17][12][19]

On October 1, 2026, CNNCNNCNN (Cable News Network) is an Atlanta-based news organization founded by Ted Turner on June 1, 1980, as the world’s first 24-hour television news channel. It has been owned in turn by Turner Broadcasting System, Time Warner, AT&T and Warner Bros. Discovery, became part of Skydance Corporation along with Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry published an investigation saying that while Kushner was acting as a key negotiator in the Gaza war, Affinity, which he owns solely, was the largest shareholder in Phoenix, which holds stakes in at least nine companies supplying equipment to the Israeli military, including Israel’s largest arms maker, Elbit Systems; Affinity does not directly hold stakes in those nine companies, and CNN found no indication that Kushner’s diplomatic actions directly affected the investments. CNN also noted that as a private company Affinity is not required under U.S. law to disclose where it invests. Kushner responded on X the next day that Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm, that its Phoenix investment is public and predates Trump’s re-election, and that Affinity does not own the defense companies named in the story; CNN said it stood by its reporting.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1][1][20][21]

On October 6, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia wrote to Kushner, as founder and CEO of Affinity, requesting detailed information about the firm’s business dealings in the Middle East; an earlier request he and Senator Wyden made in March 2026 about Affinity’s Middle East fundraising had gone unanswered by Kushner and the firm.⁠[22][22][23]

Affinity Partners: Official website: https://affinitypartners.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]