Secret Talks With Kushner Led to FIFA’s Controversial Sale Plans
(Bloomberg) — The uproar roiling international football in the wake of FIFA’s plans to sell a stake in its new media division got its start in secret talks last year, when the chief of the sport’s international body met with Joshua Kushner, the venture capitalist with family ties to President Donald Trump.
The discussions between Kushner and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino focused on finding ways to help FIFA maximize revenue from its commercial assets, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. While the nonprofit rakes in cash every four years from the men’s World Cup tournament — about $15 billion in 2026 — it loses money in off years.
Kushner, for his part, had invested indirectly in the sports industry in the past and was looking for new opportunities for his firm, known as Thrive.
FIFA was determined to find a way to better monetize its media rights and in early 2026 brought in JPMorgan Chase & Co. to work out how to package them separately, develop the investor pitch and identify prospects who might want a piece, people familiar with the strategy said.
Now, as FIFA pursues a plan to raise as much as $4.2 billion from a new holding company at Thrive and other external investors, it’s staring down a fan backlash. Just weeks after the end of the first men’s World Cup in North America in three decades, football purists are decrying what they see as a cheapening of the beautiful game with interests that will prioritize money, celebrity and power over what’s best for the sport. They point to former officials convicted of corruption and Infantino’s embrace of Trump and his administration.
Kushner, Kloss
A FIFA spokesperson didn’t address questions about how the deal was formulated. Thrive and JPMorgan declined to comment.
Although primarily known for his venture capital investments and as the brother of Jared, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Joshua Kushner has maintained an indirect involvement in the sports industry for years. He became an investor in the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies around 2018. His wife, the model Karlie Kloss, has been friends with David Beckham since a 2017 Adidas campaign, and the couple have been spotted in the stands supporting Inter Miami.
That affinity for sports may now become a bigger part of Kushner’s business strategy. Following a stellar performance for Thrive’s venture capital firm, which has backed companies including OpenAI, Stripe, and SpaceX, Kushner was eager to add new types of investments under the Thrive umbrella.
JPMorgan brought experience in working on controversial football projects. Five years ago, it agreed to back Europe’s breakaway Super League with €4 billion ($4.8 billion). The plan was to create a new competition that would guarantee games and revenue for the participating European clubs for years to come, but it backfired. Most of the teams pulled out — with fans, players and politicians decrying the idea.
This time around, the assumption among officials at FIFA, Thrive and JPMorgan was that the new plan wouldn’t be as controversial as the Super League, according to people familiar with the matter. The Super League aimed to change the competitions themselves, while the new plan would seek to change how FIFA made money, one of the people said.
PGA Comparison
The idea to raise capital against FIFA’s major commercial and tournament operations has precedent in other sports. The PGA Tour, also a nonprofit, raised billions in 2024 by spinning off its commercial and media business, attracting major investors such as Steve Cohen and John W. Henry.
The talks among JPMorgan, Thrive and FIFA continued during the World Cup. While the event was wildly lucrative, political intervention tarnished the tournament. It began with Infantino awarding Trump the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize late last year, and continued with FIFA’s decision to pause a US player’s one-match ban after pressure from Trump.
Democrats in Washington were already vexed by Trump’s relationship with Infantino and FIFA – one that critics said was an example of the president using the power of his office for personal financial gain.
The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, wrote to Infantino on July 26, demanding documents, communications, visitor logs and a list of any things of value given by FIFA to Trump, his family and associates, or the family’s real estate company.
The FIFA plan to sell minority stakes suggested corruption, Raskin said in a statement, noting Kushner’s links to Trump’s family.
Asked for comment, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that Trump’s “bold vision and decisive leadership” helped ensure this year’s World Cup “created a massive economic boost across host cities, and delivered a safe, secure, and seamless experience for millions of fans and athletes.”
“It will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest and most successful sporting events in history,” he added.
Jared Kushner served as a White House contact for the group pushing the bid for the US, Mexico and Canada to jointly host the 2026 World Cup, and in 2024 helped ensure that the final would be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Joshua Kushner, meanwhile, has supported Democratic causes and candidates in the past, including financially, and said he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016.
Live Sports
The new vehicle, called FIFA Forward Enterprise, would allow FIFA to put a market value on some of its most valuable commercial assets at a time when demand for premium live sports rights is high.
FFE would be valued at $20 billion, and the majority of the money generated by the entity would ultimately be distributed to FIFA’s member associations through the FIFA Forward program, which provides funding for football development projects around the world.
A 25-page pitch deck assembled by FIFA and JPMorgan and sent to member associations said a “sweeping governance reform” had made FIFA stronger than ever and that the fundraising would fuel growth by providing long-term funding for development. It highlighted data showing that while World Cup games are among the world’s most watched sporting events, annual revenue lags far behind other sports.
The presentation said that new investments could unlock money to allow for distributions of $20 million per member association over the next four-year cycle, up from $8 million in the latest cycle. The organization may also pay out up to an additional $20 million per member for major projects.
Kushner’s firm was to be the cornerstone investor for the new project. By the start of the World Cup, he had launched Thrive Eternal, a holding company structured to make long-term investments in iconic names. Its initial limited partners are existing Thrive investors, according to the firm.
In April, Thrive Eternal struck an agreement to invest in Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants. It has also hired investment bankers and discussed making a bid for the NBA expansion team in Las Vegas.
‘Attack on the Sport’
FIFA’s plan has come in for condemnation from politicians and powerful club members. UEFA, the group in charge of Europe’s football associations and arguably as influential as FIFA, is considering a boycott of FIFA events.
“There is a strong consensus among the member associations on this matter,” said Hans-Joachim Watzke, chairman of Borussia Dortmund and a major figure in German football. “If European football stands united in opposing these plans, it carries significant weight.”
Watzke said he had held conversations with Aleksander Ceferin, the head of UEFA, over the past few days. “Many in European football view FIFA’s plans as an outright attack on the sport,” he added. “I share this view.”
The move could spark competition-law concerns, according to a top European Union official.
“The relentless commercialization of football has become corrosive,” EU sport and culture commissioner Glen Micallef said in a post on X. “It’s threatening the things that made football the world’s most popular sport.”
FIFA shows no signs of reversing course. JPMorgan is preparing its pitch document to send to investors, while FIFA gave member associations a September deadline to support its plans or face a reduction in potential funding, according to people familiar with the matter.
–With assistance from Sasha Draeger-Mazer, Abhinav Ramnarayan, Irene García Pérez and Ted Mann.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
