Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, is facing conflict-of-interest accusations for seeking funding for his investment firm while serving as a Middle East envoy.
On the 13th (local time), the New York Times (NYT), citing sources, reported that Kushner in recent weeks has been contacting Middle Eastern investors to raise an additional investment fund of about $5 billion (about 7.5 trillion won) for Affinity Partners, the investment firm he founded.
In particular, he is known to have reached out to existing investors, including the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth funds led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. PIF is Affinity's largest and first investor, having invested $2 billion (about 3 trillion won) right after the end of the first Trump administration.
NYT said other Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds that previously invested in Affinity, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, are also expected to receive additional investment requests. In January, he attended the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) in Switzerland as part of the U.S. delegation, held closed-door meetings with business leaders, and is known to have discussed the possibility of attracting new investments.
Kushner is facing conflict-of-interest controversy because, until recently, he was involved in negotiations related to the Iran nuclear issue as the Trump administration's Middle East envoy. NYT reported that criticism is mounting that his simultaneous public diplomatic role and fundraising from Middle Eastern investors could blur the line between public duties and the pursuit of private gain.