Early career
During his second year, Kushner was founding executive editor of Scene, a new pop culture student-publication.[7] The publication was badly received by critics upon release.[8]
In the spring of his junior year he worked with two graduate students to pool $10,000 in order to found social network Vostu,[9] 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".[10] Vostu laid off the majority of its employees in 2013 and significantly scaled back its operations after a copyright lawsuit from a competitor accused them of copying games.[11][12]
The year after graduation he co-founded a start-up called Unithrive. 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.[13] After graduating from Harvard, he started his career in the private equity arm at Goldman Sachs, working for a year on distressed debt.[14]
Thrive Capital
Kushner founded Thrive Capital in 2009, a venture capital firm that focuses on media and internet investments.[15][16][17] Since its founding, Thrive has raised over $7.3 billion from institutional investors, including Princeton University.[18] Thrive's capital funds include: Thrive II, which raised $40 million in 2011; Thrive III, which raised $150 million in 2012; Thrive IV, which raised $400 million in September 2014;[18][19] Thrive V, raising $700 million in 2016; Thrive VI, raising $1 billion in 2018; Thrive VII, raising $2 billion in 2021; Thrive VIII, raising $3 billion in 2022; and Thrive IX, raising $5 billion in 2024.[20]
Oscar Health
Kushner is a co-founder and vice-chairman of Oscar Health, a health insurance start-up.[32] Founded in 2012, Oscar was valued at $2.7 billion in 2016.[33] Oscar went public in 2021, with Kushner's Thrive Capital owning a stake worth $1.21 billion.[34][35] Oscar reported an $87 million loss in its first quarter as a publicly traded company.[36]
In 2020, it was revealed by The Atlantic that Jared Kushner had contracted Oscar Health to develop a coronavirus testing website that was later scrapped, even though Trump had said publicly that Google was developing the website.[37]
Cadre
In 2015, Kushner founded a new company called Cadre with his brother Jared 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.[38][39]
JK2
Kushner and his brother, Jared, each own 50% of JK2 (also known as Westminster Management), a real estate management company, but Joshua is not involved with the business.[40][41]
In April 2021, a Judge ruled that JK2 was found to have committed "widespread and numerous" violations of Maryland's consumer protection laws at Baltimore-area properties by collecting debts without the required licenses, charging tenants improper fees, and misrepresenting the condition of rental units.[42][43][44] During the COVID-19 pandemic, JK2 filed a significant number of lawsuits against tenants for debt collection and eviction, despite an eviction moratorium being in place.[45]
Other activities
Kushner became a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies after acquiring a 2.5% stake in 2019.[48][49] In 2024, he purchased a small stake in the Miami Heat and consequently sold his stake in the Memphis Grizzlies.[50]
In 2024, Kushner and his wife's media company, Bedford Media, announced plans to revive Life magazine in an agreement with Dotdash Meredith, with the first print issue scheduled for early 2025.[51][52] He also joined the board of directors of A24 Films that year.[53]
