The Kushner family is an American family involved in

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

. The family originated from

Novogrudok Novogrudok ( be, Навагрудак, Navahrudak; lt, Naugardukas; pl, Nowogródek; russian: Новогрудок, Novogrudok; yi, נאַוואַראַדאָק, Novhardok, Navaradok) is a town in the Grodno Region, Belarus. In the Middle A ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, and is based in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...

. After surviving the Holocaust and settling in the United States, Joseph Kushner developed a portfolio of 4,000 apartments. He left the business to his sons, Murray and Charles Kushner, who worked together before having a falling out over business and personal matters. Charles owns Kushner Companies and Murray owns the Kushner Real Estate Group. The net worth of Charles' family has been estimated at over $1 billion.

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...

, Charles' son, was

senior advisor In some countries, a senior advisor (also spelt senior adviser, especially in the UK) is an appointed position by the Head of State to advise on the highest levels of national and government policy. Sometimes a junior position to this is called a N ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

Family history

First generation

Rae Kushner was born in 1923 to a Jewish family in

. Her father, a

furrier Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...

, owned two stores and the family lived comfortably. Due to rising

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

, the family tried to obtain a

travel visa A visa (from the Latin ''charta visa'', meaning "paper that has been seen") is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on t ...

allowing them to leave Poland, but were unable to secure one before the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the German occupation of Soviet-controlled Poland in 1941, Rae and her family were forced into the

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...

. Her mother and sister were killed. In 1943, Rae and other Jews, including her father, a sister, and her brother, tunneled out of the ghetto. Though her brother did not survive, the others were rescued by Tuvia Bielski. They lived in the forests near Novogrudok with the Bielski partisans until Novogrudok was liberated by the Soviet Union in 1944. Rae met Yossel Berkowitz, a carpenter who was also from Novogrudok, in the forest. They married in Budapest. They went to Italy, where they stayed in a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

for years. As the Kushners had family in the United States, they were admitted to the country in 1949, and settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Yossel took Rae's last name and passed himself off as his father-in-law's son. Yossel, now going by the name of Joseph, began building apartments in New Jersey in partnership with

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and Joseph Wilf. Joseph and Rae had a daughter, Linda, in the displaced persons camp. After coming to the United States, they had two sons, Murray and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, and another daughter, Esther. Rae died in 2004.

Second generation

Murray founded SK Properties with his father and Eugene Schenkman in 1979. In 1985, Charles started Kushner Companies, a real estate firm, with Joseph as his partner. Joseph died later in 1985, and Charles gave his siblings a stake in the company. In the 1990s, Charles began to donate money to

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

causes, including the campaign of

Jim McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 following the revelation of his extramarital affair w ...

for

governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official re ...

. Murray, on the other hand, donated to Republican Party candidates. McGreevey appointed Charles to the board of commissioners for the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

, and nominated him to become the chairman. Charles sponsored the visa of Golan Cipel, who had a romantic relationship with McGreevey. Charles also engaged in philanthropy, providing the money for the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy and the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School. Charles and Murray came into conflict over business decisions where they disagreed, including a proposed deal that Murray pulled out of. Charles was also against Murray marrying someone who converted to Judaism, rather than someone born in the religion. They experienced a falling out after an argument during a

Passover seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebre ...

in 2000. Esther sided with Murray, and began to cooperate with an FBI investigation into Kushner Companies for

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. Charles hired a prostitute to seduce Esther's husband, had the encounter videotaped, and sent photographs of it to Esther in an attempt to silence her. Charles was arrested by the FBI and prosecuted by U.S. Attorney

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in ...

. Charles pled guilty to 18 felonies, including tax fraud, making illegal campaign contributions, and

witness tampering Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficul ...

. He served 16 months in prison.

Third generation

Charles has two sons,

Jared Jared is a given name of Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Jared (יֶרֶד) was the sixth in the ten pre-flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Mahalaleel and the father of Enoch ...

and

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. ' Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, and two daughters, Nicole and Dara. Following Charles' arrest, his oldest son,

, took charge of Kushner Companies. They sold their real estate holdings in New Jersey for $1.9 billion and bought

666 Fifth Avenue 660 Fifth Avenue (formerly 666 Fifth Avenue and the Tishman Building) is a 41-story office building on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The office tower was d ...

for $1.8 billion. In 2006, Jared bought

Observer Media Observer Media is an American online media company. The company was formed through several acquisitions, including acquisition of ''The New York Observer'' in 2007. Observer Media is based in Lower Manhattan, New York City, and was owned by bus ...

for $10 million. Joseph Meyer, Jared's brother-in-law, became

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of Observer Media in 2013. Nicole works for Kushner Companies, but Dara does not. Joshua founded

Thrive Capital Thrive Capital is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. It focuses on media and internet investments. The firm was founded by Joshua Kushner who is also co-founder of Oscar Health and minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlie ...

, a venture capital firm, in 1999. Josh cofounded

Oscar Health Oscar Health, Inc. is an American health insurance company, founded in 2012 by Joshua Kushner, Kevin Nazemi and Mario Schlosser, and is headquartered in New York City. The company focuses on the health insurance industry through telemedicine, ...

, and Jared invested in the company. In 2016, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' estimated the net worth of Charles, his wife Seryl, Jared, and Joshua at $1.8 billion. In 2010, SK Properties rebranded itself as the Kushner Real Estate Group (KRE Group), with Murray as chairman and his son, Jonathan, as company president. Jonathan's brother,

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

, is an architect. KRE Group and Kushner Companies have both invested in the

Journal Square Journal Square is a business district, residential area, and transportation hub in Jersey City, New Jersey, which takes its name from the newspaper '' Jersey Journal'' whose headquarters were located there from 1911 to 2013. The "square" itself ...

neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey, where KRE Group is building Journal Squared and Kushner Companies is building

One Journal Square One Journal Square is a skyscraper complex under construction at Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is the fourth tallest building by structural height in Jersey City, construction began in 2022 after significant delays. The firs ...

. Kushner Companies filed a lawsuit in June 2018 alleging that the city gave the KRE Group more favorable terms. The suit was settled in October 2020. Jared married

Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman and the first daughter of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. She was a senior advisor in his administration, and also was the ...

, after her conversion to Judaism, in October 2009. Joshua married

Karlie Kloss Karlie Elizabeth Kloss (born August 3, 1992) is an American fashion model. '' Vogue Paris'' declared her one of the "top 30 models of the 2000s" when she was 17. Kloss was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015; she resigned to study a ...

, who also converted to Judaism, in October 2018. Jared worked on father-in-law

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

. During the campaign, Jared wrote an op-ed defending Trump from accusations of anti-Semitism, invoking the story of his grandparents resisting the Nazis. Marc responded on Facebook that his lesson from the story of his grandparents was to renounce hate. Another cousin, Jacob Schulder, also objected to the reference to his grandparents. After the election, Trump named Jared

to the president. In order to divest himself of assets, he sold Observer Media to a trust controlled by his family.

References

External links