During his tenure as head of Kushner Companies in 2007, Jared Kushner greenlit the purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York. His father, Charles, would later claim that he “pushed” Jared to acquire the tower for a historic $1.8 billion, per CNN. As if the building’s street number wasn’t enough of a bad omen, the 2008 recession hit and plummeted its value, and the property began hemorrhaging revenue. Kushner Companies needed to find a way to pay back the building’s $1.4 billion loan by February 2019, per CNN Money.
In 2016, Jared was transitioning into his role in Donald Trump’s administration but still was in control at Kushner Companies, which many saw as a conflict of interest, per CBS News. This is where the scandal comes in. According to the timeline curated by the organization Just Security, Jared and Charles approached Qatari investors in order to hopefully use Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund to pay off 666’s loan during 2015 and 2016. The negotiations failed after Qatar became concerned over potential calls of Jared’s conflicting interests.
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After he officially became part of the White House in 2017, Jared resigned as CEO of the family business, but still kept much of his financial interests in the company. In 2018, Kushner Companies comes to a “bailout” deal with the Qataris and a company named Brookfield Asset Management, in which the Qatar Investment Authority is an investor. Thus, many became suspicious of Jared’s involvement in the dealings.
