Jared Kushner might have left the family real estate business when he moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as an advisor to his father-in-law, Donald Trump. Still, his family's company, Kushner Companies, kept going strong – and then some. Today, the Kushners' real estate empire is valued at $2.9 billion by Forbes, making it worth more than Trump's $2.2 billion property portfolio. Even more impressive, the total wealth of the Kushner family has surged from $1.8 billion in 2016 to $7.1 billion today.
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Charles Kushner, the head of the family and his wife Seryl own 20% of the real estate firm and the rest is split among their four children: Jared, Nicole, Josh and Dara. So, how did they make this happen?
Back in 2018, Jared Kushner stepped away to work in the White House and the business faced significant debt issues, especially with its high-profile property in Manhattan – 666 Fifth Avenue. It was also dealing with other stalled projects and extensive media attention.
They sold off their interest in 666 Fifth Avenue, which helped them clear a mountain of debt. They also shifted focus away from risky office spaces and expensive New York City projects. Instead, Kushner Companies returned to what they did best – renting apartments.
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After selling many of their New York assets, Kushner Companies began buying up apartment complexes in areas like New Jersey, Miami and other parts of the South. They focused on regions with growing populations and stable rents, helping them expand their portfolio to “over 27,000 units in 15 states,” according to a statement by CEO Laurent Morali to Forbes.
Their return to apartments was key. By concentrating on residential properties, the family went back to the roots of what made the Kushner name successful in real estate in the first place – affordable housing. Over the last several years, Kushner Companies expanded their apartment holdings in the Baltimore-Washington metro area and the Sun Belt and began developing luxury apartments in Jersey City and Miami.
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Jared's Sister Takes the Lead
With Jared in D.C., the family placed the business in the hands of CEO Laurent Morali and Jared's younger sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer. According to Jon Mechanic, one of Kushner's real estate attorneys, Nicole has “a sense of what works, what doesn't work.” “You don't grow up in a family like that and not have real estate in your blood,” he continued.
This leadership team worked quietly and efficiently, avoiding the kind of negative attention that ties to Saudi Arabia once brought during Trump's presidency. Morali and Nicole focused on getting the company back to basics – getting out of risky projects and sticking to smart, manageable investments.
They sold most of the office buildings and flashy Manhattan projects that Jared had favored, opting to buy up more apartments instead. They targeted parts of the U.S. that had seen population growth and, importantly, less competition from big investors. This was a major turning point for Kushner Companies as they began looking for fresh opportunities in states like Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Today, just under half of Kushner Companies’ real estate portfolio value is concentrated in apartments in growing regions such as the Sun Belt and New Jersey. Less than 10% of their portfolio remains in New York City, with one of the key assets being the historic Puck Building, which still attracts strong office rents.
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A Fortune Now Larger than Trump's
With a careful approach and a return to proven strategies, the Kushners have managed to grow their real estate company into something more valuable than Donald Trump's property empire. The value of Kushner Companies has nearly tripled since 2016, reaching $2.9 billion today. Altogether, the Kushner family is now worth an estimated $7.1 billion. Jared's brother Josh is the wealthiest, thanks to his successful investments in tech startups like Instagram and OpenAI.
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