Josh Kushner has spent much of his career trying to build an identity separate from his famous last name.
That may become harder after his latest move.
Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger are leading an investment group acquiring control of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to reports published August 12, 2026. The deal reportedly values the team at roughly $12 billion to $12.5 billion.
For many people encountering his name through the Lakers story, however, another question immediately follows:
Is Josh Kushner related to Jared Kushner?
Yes.
Josh is Jared Kushner’s younger brother, and both come from the prominent Kushner real estate family.
Who are Josh Kushner’s parents?
Josh Kushner’s parents are Charles Kushner and Seryl Kushner.
The couple have four children:
- Dara Kushner
- Jared Kushner
- Joshua “Josh” Kushner
- Nicole Kushner Meyer
Charles and Seryl raised their children in Livingston, New Jersey, in an Orthodox Jewish household.
Josh was born on June 12, 1985.
While his father and older brother became closely associated with real estate and, eventually, national politics, Josh built most of his professional identity in venture capital.
Who is Josh Kushner’s father Charles Kushner?
Charles Kushner is a real estate developer and founder of the business that became Kushner Companies.
He built a substantial property empire, making the Kushner name prominent in New Jersey real estate long before the family became nationally known through Donald Trump’s political career.
Charles also has a complicated public history.
In 2005, he was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to federal charges involving tax offenses, campaign contributions and witness retaliation.
He later received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
In 2025, Charles Kushner became the U.S. ambassador to France, another development that kept the family closely connected to politics.
Forbes has described Josh’s wealth as largely separate from his father’s real estate fortune, with his billionaire status primarily tied to Thrive Capital.
Who is Josh Kushner’s mother Seryl Kushner?
Josh’s mother is Seryl Kushner, born Seryl Stadtmauer.
She has maintained a substantially lower public profile than her husband or sons.
Charles and Seryl raised their four children within the Orthodox Jewish tradition.
Because Jared entered politics and Josh became a high-profile billionaire investor, the family’s two sons are far better known publicly than Seryl and their daughters.
How many siblings does Josh Kushner have?
Josh Kushner has three siblings: one brother and two sisters.
They are:
- Jared Kushner
- Dara Kushner
- Nicole Kushner Meyer
Josh is the younger brother of Jared.
Is Josh Kushner related to Jared Kushner?
Yes.
Josh and Jared Kushner are brothers.
Jared was born in 1981, while Josh was born in 1985.
Despite coming from the same wealthy family, their careers developed very differently.
Jared became deeply involved in Kushner Companies, the family’s real estate operation.
He later became a national political figure after marrying Ivanka Trump in 2009.
When Donald Trump entered the White House, Jared served as a senior adviser to his father-in-law.
Josh largely avoided that political path.
Instead, he built Thrive Capital, which invested in technology companies including Instagram, Spotify, Stripe and OpenAI.
Forbes now estimates Josh’s fortune at approximately $5.2 billion, compared with approximately $1 billion for Jared as of August 12, 2026.
Who is Josh Kushner’s sister Nicole Kushner Meyer?
Nicole Kushner Meyer is one of Josh’s two sisters.
Unlike Josh, she has worked directly with the family’s real estate business.
Nicole attracted widespread attention in 2017 over presentations to potential Chinese investors involving a Kushner Companies development in Jersey City and the U.S. EB-5 investor visa program.
She is married to Joseph Meyer.
Compared with Jared and Josh, however, Nicole maintains a significantly less public-facing profile.
Who is Josh Kushner’s sister Dara Kushner?
Josh’s other sister is Dara Kushner.
Dara has remained by far one of the least publicly visible members of Charles and Seryl Kushner’s immediate family.
Unlike Nicole, Jared and Josh, she has generally avoided prominent roles in either the family’s business operations or national politics.
Historical reporting on the Kushner family has consistently identified the four siblings as Dara, Jared, Joshua and Nicole.
How is Josh Kushner related to Ivanka Trump?
Ivanka Trump is Josh Kushner’s sister-in-law.
She married Jared Kushner in 2009.
That makes Donald Trump a member of Josh’s extended family through marriage, but Trump is not Josh’s father-in-law.
That distinction sometimes becomes confused because of the frequency with which the Kushner and Trump names appear together.
Donald Trump is Jared Kushner’s father-in-law.
Josh’s own father-in-law is physician Kurt Kloss, the father of Josh’s wife Karlie Kloss.
Who is Josh Kushner married to?
Josh Kushner is married to Karlie Kloss, the American model and entrepreneur.
They married in 2018 and now have three children:
Levi Joseph, Elijah Jude and Rae Florence Kushner.
The couple have generally kept their immediate family life relatively private.
Kloss said in a 2026 interview that she places strong boundaries around what parts of their family life become public.
Did Josh Kushner inherit the Kushner family business?
Josh did not follow the same route as Jared.
The Kushner family fortune originated largely in real estate, but Josh’s major financial success came through technology investing.
He founded Thrive Capital and gradually built it into a major venture investment firm.
Forbes has specifically noted that its calculations of Josh’s wealth historically did not simply assume that he would inherit part of the family real estate empire.
That is why describing him merely as an heir to the Kushner fortune misses an important part of his story.
He was born wealthy and had access to extraordinary opportunities, but the primary asset behind his current multibillion-dollar fortune is Thrive.
The Kushner family’s Holocaust history
The Kushner family’s history in America begins with an extraordinary survival story.
Josh’s paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors who came to the United States after World War II.
That history remains an important part of the family’s identity.
Josh and Karlie Kloss also gave their daughter Rae Florence a name connected to Josh’s grandmother, according to reporting following her birth in 2025.
The family eventually built its fortune in American real estate, beginning the business dynasty that later became associated with Charles and Jared Kushner.
Josh subsequently created a second major source of Kushner wealth through technology.
Why is Josh Kushner in the news?
Josh’s profile has risen dramatically beyond Silicon Valley because of his move into professional sports.
Thrive’s long-term investment operation made a sports investment in the San Francisco Giants earlier in 2026.
Josh and Bob Iger also explored a possible bid for an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas.
Then came the Lakers.
On August 12, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported that Kushner and Iger were leading the acquisition of control of the Los Angeles Lakers at a valuation exceeding $12 billion.
That makes Josh’s identity particularly interesting.
Jared became the Kushner most associated with politics.
Charles became the Kushner associated with the family’s real estate empire.
Josh increasingly appears to be building another branch of the family story altogether — technology, venture capital and now elite professional sports.
Josh Kushner’s family at a glance
Father: Charles Kushner
Mother: Seryl Kushner
Brother: Jared Kushner
Sisters: Dara Kushner and Nicole Kushner Meyer
Wife: Karlie Kloss
Children: Levi, Elijah and Rae
Sister-in-law: Ivanka Trump
Profession: Founder of Thrive Capital
Estimated net worth: $5.2 billion
Latest news: Part of the group acquiring control of the Los Angeles Lakers
Josh Kushner may carry one of the most recognizable surnames in American business and politics.
But his career has increasingly made him famous for a different reason: building one of the world’s most influential technology investment firms — and now trying to add one of basketball’s most valuable franchises to his portfolio.
