“Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, wakes up each morning to a growing problem that will not go away. His family’s real estate business, Kushner Cos., owes hundreds of millions of dollars on a 41-story office building on Fifth Avenue. It has failed to secure foreign investors, despite an extensive search, and its resources are more limited than generally understood. As a result, the company faces significant challenges.
“Over the past two years, executives and family members have sought substantial overseas investment from previously undisclosed places: South Korea’s sovereign-wealth fund, France’s richest man, Israeli banks and insurance companies, and exploratory talks with a Saudi developer, according to former and current executives. These were in addition to previously reported attempts to raise money in China and Qatar.
“The family, once one of the largest landlords on the East Coast, sold thousands of apartments to finance its purchase of the tower in 2007 and has borrowed extensively for other purchases. They are walking away from a Brooklyn hotel once considered central to their plans for an office hub. From other properties, they are extracting cash, including tens of millions in borrowed funds from the recently acquired former New York Times building. What’s more, their partner in the Fifth Avenue building, Vornado Realty Trust, headed by Steve Roth, has stood aside, allowing the Kushners to pursue financing on their own.
“But there are challenges all around. The mortgage on their tower is due in 18 months. This has led to concerns that Kushner could use—or has perhaps already used—his official position to prop up the family business despite having divested to close relatives his ownership in many projects to conform with government ethics requirements. Federal investigators are examining Kushner’s finances and business dealings, along with those of other Trump associates, as they probe possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. Kushner has already testified twice before closed congressional committees and denies mixing family business with his official role.”
The Kushner family business is feverishly trying to track down international investors to cover hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, and Jared's proximity to power has become a major selling point.
In May, it was reported that the Kushners were touting their connections to the Trump administration in pitches to Chinese investors. They even hyped a special visa program as part of the sale. It now appears that was only the tip of the iceberg.
As the family's real estate projects falter and debt piles up, Kushner has turned to foreign investors, who want to quickly offload money in the United States. Over the past two years the company has pursued investors in China, Israel, Qatar, South Korea, and France. Not surprisingly, foreign interest spiked shortly after Trump won the Republican nomination.
Now, Jared holds one of the most influential posts in Trump's White House, working on everything from tech policy to Middle East peace negotiations. Just when you think the conflicts of interest couldn't get any worse, the Trump administration always finds a way to trample ethics even further.
By David Kocieniewski and Caleb Melby
