Jared Kushner’s procurement and management of 666 Fifth Avenue is a prime example of the shortsighted and overzealous tactics he employed as a businessman. At the record-setting price of $1.8 billion, Kushner Companies bought the Tishman building, a 1950’s Manhattan skyscraper with an outdated floor plan and over a billion dollars in debt that still has yet to be paid. Over the next decade, Jared Kushner and his company found themselves seeking financing all over the world, with long negotiations repeatedly resulting in rejection for the President’s son-in-law and his father, Charles Kushner.
Below is a timeline that breaks down Jared Kushner’s unsuccessful efforts to pay back a loan that will haunt him for decades to come:
December 2006: Kushner Companies announced it would purchase the Tishman Building at 666 Fifth Avenue for $1.8 billion, making it the most expensive single office building ever purchased at the time.
“This is a great acquisition for our company,” said Jared Kushner at age 25, “We are upping our presence in Manhattan. It’s a logical expansion for us.” [New York Times, 12/7/2006]
January 2007: Kushner borrowed $1.3 billion to pay for 666 Fifth Avenue and invested $500 million. [New York Times, 11/7/2007] [Bloomberg, 8/31/2017]
December 2007: The Great Recession begins [CNN Money, 12/1/2008]
April 2008: Kushner Companies sells 49 percent of 666 Fifth Avenue’s retail space to Carlyle Group and Crown Acquisitions for $525 million. [New York Post, 4/26/2008]
March 2011: Kushner Companies sells Zara-owner Inditex SA a portion of the retail space in 666 Fifth Avenue for $525 million. [Bloomberg, 3/4/2011]
December 16, 2011: Kushner refinances 666 Fifth Avenue with Vornado Realty Trust taking a 49.5 percent stake in the tower’s office space. In this deal, $115 million of the original mortgage loan is made into a “hope note” that will likely go unpaid. Vornado lends $80 million and Kushner lends $30 million for “tenant improvements and working capital.” [Bloomberg News, 12/16/2011] [Bloomberg, 8/31/2017] [National Real Estate Investor, 12/16/2011]
July 2012: Vornado Realty Trust purchases the remaining retail space at 666 Fifth Avenue from Carlyle and Kushner Companies for $707 million. [NJ.com, 7/6/2012]
Sometime in 2015: Kushner Companies claims it begins negotiating with former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani (HBJ) to finance 666 Fifth Avenue, ultimately seeking $500 million in financing. [The Intercept, 7/10/2017]
July 2016: When Kushner Companies claims talks began with Anbang Insurance Group, a Chinese financial behemoth with estimated assets of $285 billion, to finance 666 Fifth Avenue. [The Intercept, 7/10/2017]
November 8, 2016: Donald J. Trump is elected President of the United States.
November 16, 2016: Jared Kushner attends dinner with Wu Xiaohui, the chairman of Anbang Insurance Group. [New York Times, 1/7/2017]
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December 13, 2016: Jared Kushner meets Sergey Gorkov, Chairman of sanctioned Russian Vnesheconombank (VEB). The White House says Kushner’s meeting with Gorkov was unrelated to business, and Kushner testified on Capitol Hill that his meeting was for diplomatic purposes. [The Washington Post, 7/24/2017] [CNN, 2/19/2018] [The Washington Post, 6/1/2017]
But the bank tells a different story:
VEB said the meeting was scheduled with Kushner as head of Kushner Companies. [CNN, 3/27/2017]
January 20, 2017: Donald J. Trump is inaugurated President of the United States and Jared Kushner resigns from Kushner Companies, selling off his stake in 666 Fifth Avenue but retaining substantial ownership of Kushner companies. [Politico, 1/9/2017] [The Intercept, 3/2/2018]
March 13, 2017: It is reported that Kushner Companies will receive $400 million from Anbang Insurance Group to finance 666 Fifth Avenue. This would have been accompanied by a $4 billion loan from Anbang to tear down and replace. [Bloomberg Markets, 3/13/2017]
April 2017: Charles Kushner meets with Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi to seek financing for 666 Fifth Avenue. He fails to secure financing for the building. [The Intercept, 7/10/2017] [The Intercept, 3/2/2018]
March 28, 2017: Talks between Kushner Companies and Anbang Insurance Group collapse. [New York Post, 3/28/2017]
February 2018: Vornado CEO Steven Roth says during a fourth-quarter earnings call that the company is hoping to sell its stake in 666 Fifth Avenue. [Wall Street Journal, 2/28/2018]
February 2019: The $1.2 billion mortgage on 666 Fifth Avenue, for which Kushner companies is responsible for half, is due in full. [Bloomberg, 8/31/2017]
Citations:
New York Times, 12/7/2006; New York Times, 11/7/2007; The Intercept, 7/10/2017; Bloomberg, 8/31/2017; CNN Money, 12/1/2008; New York Times, 4/28/2008; Bloomberg, 3/4/2011; Bloomberg News, 12/16/2011; Bloomberg, 8/31/2017; National Real Estate Investor, 12/16/2011; NJ.com, 7/6/2012; The Intercept, 7/10/2017; New York Times, 1/7/2017; The Washington Post, 7/24/2017; CNN, 2/19/2018; The Washington Post, 6/1/2017; CNN, 3/27/2017; Politico, 1/9/2017; The Intercept, 3/2/2018; Bloomberg Markets, 3/13/2017; The Intercept, 7/10/2017; The Intercept, 3/2/2018; New York Post, 3/28/2017; Wall Street Journal, 2/28/2018; Bloomberg, 8/31/2017
Jared Kushner
Donald Trump has entrusted his son-in-law — who has no government experience, no necessary security clearance, large foreign debts, a rocky relationship with the truth, and a host of conflicts of interest — with one of the most influential jobs in the world.