Josh Kushner

Net worth over time

Forbes estimates of Josh Kushner's net worth each year, next to the Forbes value of the Los Angeles Lakers. From 2022 to now the net worth went from $2B to $16.7B, about 8 times as much.

Yearly points are from the Forbes billionaires lists, mostly the spring World's Billionaires list; the last point is the latest Forbes real-time figure, which can differ a lot from the spring list. Years without a published figure are skipped.

The businesses in detail

How the main business makes money. Thrive raises money from institutions and wealthy investors. It buys stakes in private technology companies, from start-ups to late-stage firms. It keeps a share of the gains when those stakes rise in value. Oscar earns the premiums its members pay.

Biggest deals.

• OpenAI: $130M in 2022 at a $29B valuation, then about $1.25B more in 2024 at $157B.
• Stripe: raised $1.8B in March 2023 to invest at a $50B valuation.
• Sold about 3% of Thrive to Petershill, a Goldman Sachs unit, in 2021 at a $3.6B valuation, and 3.3% in 2023 at $5.3B.
• Thrive funds grew from $5M (2009) to $5B (2024) and over $10B (2026).

Career path

1. 2009

   Founds Thrive Capital at 24 with a $5M fund

2. 2011

   Earns a Harvard MBA; raises a $40M fund

3. 2019

   Buys 2.5% of the Memphis Grizzlies

4. 2021

   Oscar lists, raising $1.2B; Petershill buys into Thrive

5. 2022

   Thrive first invests in OpenAI

6. 2024

   Buys a small Miami Heat stake

7. April 2026

   Thrive creates Thrive Eternal and agrees to buy a Giants stake

8. August 2026

   Agrees to buy control of the Lakers

Teams and sports assets

Owns now 2

• teamMiami HeatNBA · Basketball · USSince 2024 · small; must be sold before Lakers approval
• sports businessThrive EternalMulti-sport · USSince 2026 · Thrive Capital vehicle

Agreed, not yet closed 2

• teamLos Angeles LakersNBA · Basketball · USSince 2026 · about 65% for the group; about 83% with the Buss trust's 17.8% · $12.5B valuation
• teamSan Francisco GiantsMLB · Baseball · USSince 2026 · reportedly under 10%, through Thrive Eternal

Owned before 1

• teamMemphis GrizzliesNBA · Basketball · USSince 2019 · 2.5%

Other investments and assets

• Companies and funds: Thrive holdings include Stripe, OpenAI, Databricks, Anduril, Spotify and GitHub. He is a director of film studio A24 and co-founded property platform Cadre.
• Property: Puck Building penthouse, New York ($35M, 2021); Miami Beach home ($23.5M, 2020); Wave House, Malibu ($29.5M, 2024). He owns 50% of apartment owner JK2 / Westminster Management.
• Family in the business: Wife Karlie Kloss co-runs Bedford Media and holds a New York Liberty stake. Brother Jared, who owns the other 50% of JK2, sold all his Thrive interest after being named a senior White House adviser.

Giving and politics

• Forbes gives him a philanthropy score of 1.
• Wikipedia describes him as a lifelong Democrat.
• No gift amounts or political donations appear in the sources used.

How they run their teams

• Axios reported that he is expected to be the control owner, with other investors joining.
• NBA rules cap Thrive Eternal at 20% of the team. He must personally hold at least 15% and more than Thrive Eternal, Axios said.
• ESPN reported that he must sell his Heat stake before the NBA approves.
• Approval needs 23 of 30 owners. ESPN reported on 16 October 2026 that the vote is expected in November.

What they have said

• Thrive deliberately concentrates on a small number of people and ideas, and means to hold its best positions for decades.
• He likened AI to cloud computing, where yearly spending grew from about $12B to roughly $220B in a decade.
• Founders deserve the credit, and the investor's job is to support them.
• With Iger, he calls the buyers stewards rather than owners and promises a long-term commitment to winning and to Los Angeles.
• Iger said the buyers intend to keep Jeanie Buss as governor under her five-year agreement, though that could change later.

Little-known facts

• He and Iger were preparing a Las Vegas expansion bid when the Lakers became available. Iger said the deal was agreed in three days.
• Thrive's outside shareholders include Iger, Henry Kravis and Mukesh Ambani.
• An early Instagram stake doubled within days when the company was sold.