# Joshua Kushner

> Joshua Kushner is an American entrepreneur and investor, founder and CEO of New York-based Thrive Capital. His career spans co-founding the social gaming company Vostu and backing Instagram, GitHub, Stripe, Spotify and OpenAI. He emphasizes concentrated investments and long relationships with founders, and has expanded into operating service businesses through Thrive Holdings and pursuing cultural and sports assets through Thrive Eternal.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Thrive Capital
- **Organizations:** Thrive Capital, Thrive Holdings, Thrive Eternal, Vostu
- **From:** Livingston, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in Government, Harvard College, Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Built Thrive Capital from its student-era beginnings into a multistage technology investment firm., Invested in Instagram before its announced 2012 sale to Facebook., Backed companies including GitHub, Spotify, Warby Parker, Stripe and OpenAI.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Co-founded Vostu, initially a social networking venture that subsequently focused on social games.
- **2008** — Graduated from Harvard College.
- **2009** — Founded Thrive Capital; historical accounts differ on the initial operating year and first fund size.
- **2011** — Completed his MBA and raised Thrive’s $40 million first institutional fund.
- **2012** — Thrive invested in Instagram shortly before Facebook announced its acquisition.
- **2018** — Microsoft agreed to acquire Thrive portfolio company GitHub for $7.5 billion.
- **2023** — Thrive participated in Stripe’s Series I financing and became an investor in OpenAI.
- **2025** — Expanded into operating businesses through Thrive Holdings; OpenAI announced an ownership stake and embedded-team partnership in December.
- **2026** — Thrive X closed above $10 billion; Thrive Eternal launched; Thrive Holdings announced more than $2 billion in new funding.

## Achievements

- Built Thrive Capital from its student-era beginnings into a multistage technology investment firm.
- Invested in Instagram before its announced 2012 sale to Facebook.
- Backed companies including GitHub, Spotify, Warby Parker, Stripe and OpenAI.
- Closed Thrive X above $10 billion in February 2026.
- Developed Thrive Holdings into an operating-business platform that reported more than 70 owned businesses by August 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Thrive Holdings announced more than $2 billion in new capital at a $12 billion valuation and said it owned and operated over 70 businesses.
- **2026-08** — Kushner and Bob Iger agreed to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers at a reported $12.5 billion valuation; September reporting continued to describe the transaction as pending.
- **2026-08** — Acknowledged that Thrive had underestimated global football’s political dynamics after an unsuccessful FIFA commercial-investment proposal.
- **2026-04** — Thrive Eternal launched and announced an agreement for a San Francisco Giants stake, subject to league approval.
- **2026-02** — Thrive announced the close of Thrive X above $10 billion, with $1 billion designated for early-stage and $9 billion for growth-stage investments.

## Links

- Website: https://www.thrivecap.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-kushner-711b45230/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/JoshuaKushner
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuakushner/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joshua-kushner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26