Billionaire Josh Kushner’s Venture Firm Invests In San Francisco Giants—Its First Sports B
April 24, 2026
Topline
Thrive, an investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner known for early investments in OpenAI and SpaceX, has reached an agreement to take a minority stake in the San Francisco Giants, Kushner announced Friday—the first investment from Thrive Eternal, a new subsidiary designed to invest in cultural assets.
Key Facts
The investment—subject to approval by Major League Baseball—is a minority, noncontrolling stake, according to the Wall Street Journal (Further financial terms were not disclosed).
Beginning with this investment, Thrive Eternal will operate as a holding company with no set exit timeline in franchises and cultural institutions the firm believes technology cannot replicate, it said.
Former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, who rejoined Thrive as an adviser on Thursday after a brief stint as a venture partner in 2022, is expected to be closely involved with Thrive Eternal, according to Bloomberg.
In a post on X, Kushner framed the strategy as a bet that cultural assets will become even more valuable as technology and artificial intelligence advances—marking a new venture for the firm known for its technology investments.
Thrive is one of OpenAI’s largest outside shareholders and has also backed Instagram, Stripe, Databricks, coding startup Cursor and cybersecurity firm Wiz, which Google acquired for $32 billion last month in the largest deal in Google’s history.
Forbes estimates the San Francisco Giants generated $477 million in revenue during the 2025 season and are worth around $4 billion—the fifth most valuable MLB team.
Key Background
Thrive is the umbrella brand for Kushner’s investment empire, which includes Thrive Capital—the venture firm behind large technology investments—and Thrive Holdings, a separate permanent capital vehicle launched last year to acquire and scale traditional services like HVAC and plumbing businesses using AI. Thrive Capital has total assets under management of roughly $25 billion, and raised more than $10 billion earlier this year for its largest fund to date, including a $9 billion vehicle dedicated to large, late-stage investments and $1 billion to early-stage deals. The firm was founded in 2010 with $5 million in seed capital from General Catalyst co-founder Joel Cutler. It has historically focused on technology but has increasingly pushed beyond traditional venture structures—its 2024 lead investment in indie film studio A24 was an early signal of the broader strategy now formalized under Eternal.
Forbes Valuation
Kushner, the younger brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has an estimated $5.2 billion net worth, largely from his 66% stake in Thrive Capital. In 2012, he co-founded health insurance startup Oscar Health, which went public in 2021. He’s married to model and Kode With Klossy founder Karlie Kloss and is the son of real estate tycoon Charles Kushner, who became Trump’s ambassador to France in May 2025.
Tangent
Thrive’s move lands amid a flood of institutional capital into sports. Every major U.S. men’s pro league now allows private equity funds to take minority stakes—MLB opened the door first in 2019, followed by the NBA, NHL and MLS, with the NFL finally following suit in August 2024. Large private equity firms with sports stakes include Sixth Street (Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, San Francisco Giants), Ares Management (Miami Dolphins, Chelsea FC, Inter Miami), RedBird Capital (AC Milan, Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Red Sox and Liverpool) and Silver Lake (Diamond Baseball Holdings’ portfolio of 48 minor league teams, Endeavor Group Holdings, parent of WWE/UFC). In February, KKR announced plans to acquire sports-focused firm Arctos Partners in a deal valued at $1.4 billion.
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