Mukesh Ambani, other billionaires buy stake in Josh Kushner’s VC Firm Thrive

RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani (Image: Reuters)

A group of global billionaires worth at least $123 billion are buying a stake in Thrive Capital, the venture-capital firm founded by Josh Kushner.

India’s Mukesh Ambani, Brazil’s Jorge Paulo Lemann and France’s Xavier Niel will join KKR & Co. co-founder Henry Kravis and Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger in investing $175 million to purchase a 3.3% stake in Thrive.

“These extraordinary operators have built storied institutions, achieved geographic preeminence, ushered beloved brands to even greater heights, and pioneered entirely new industries,” Thrive said in a statement on Tuesday posted on Medium.

The deal values Thrive at $5.3 billion, up from $3.6 billion in 2021, when it sold a stake to a unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to a spokeswoman for New York-based Thrive. Its total assets under management reached $15 billion last year.

Thrive has repurchased the stake sold to Goldman Sachs and the stake held by the new syndicate is the same, Thrive said on Medium. The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the stake sale.

The investment represents a collection of some of the richest people from across the globe.

Ambani is the world’s 12th richest person, with a $84.7 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Lemann, with a net worth of $21.1 billion, is Brazil’s wealthiest individual. Kravis is worth $9.5 billion and Niel has an $8.1 billion personal fortune, according to the index.

“A lot of these folks have been involved in my life for quite a bit of time,” Kushner, 37, said in an interview with the Journal. “Now they actually have a vested stake in the firm’s success.”

Thrive was founded in 2009 by Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump who served as a senior White House adviser under his administration.

It has invested in firms including Oscar Health Inc., Compass Inc., Affirm Holdings Inc., Opendoor Technologies Inc., Unity Software Inc., Hims & Hers Health Inc. and SKIMS, an underwear company created by Kim Kardashian.

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