Episode summary
Kushner Disappoints Mideast Clients Who Spent Millions for Sway | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 32 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: David Gillen, George Mattson, Lizzie Fournier
Summary
The episode centers on a Bloomberg exclusive about Jared Kushner’s dual role as President Donald Trump’s envoy and a private investor at Affinity Partners, which manages about $6 billion for Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The guest argues that Gulf states were not only seeking a financial return but also hoping for proximity and influence with the White House, and that the arrangement has blurred the lines between public policy and private profit in a way he called unusual in modern American history.
The hosts also discuss Wheels Up’s turnaround with its CEO, who says the company has replaced its legacy fleet, strengthened operating reliability, and is working toward sustained profitability after a major investment from Delta. He says the business is now built around a mix of private aviation and premium commercial access, with corporate demand growing quickly and the company using newer aircraft to improve unit economics.
The final segment turns to Bloomberg’s visualization of Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling network of influence. The guest says the project shows how Epstein used money, philanthropy, intellectual curiosity, and introductions as forms of currency to connect people across finance, academia, business, and politics, while emphasizing that an appearance in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Key takeaways
- The guest says Gulf investors hoped Kushner would deliver both financial returns and access to the White House, not just one or the other.
- The guest says Kushner’s simultaneous peacemaking and private investing is unprecedented enough that historians struggle to find a parallel.
- Wheels Up’s CEO says the company completed its fleet overhaul early, and claims its newer aircraft improve reliability, efficiency, and margins.
- Wheels Up says it has more than 800 signature members and that about a third of its membership is now signature-based.
- Bloomberg’s Epstein project argues that money, introductions, and intellectual access all functioned as forms of influence in his network.
Notable quotes
“Jared has uh been engaged in a campaign of, you know, official peacemaking as as the president's envoy and also private moneymaking”
“our sense is that this was this was more it is more than that that they were hoping for and that's really where that if there you know the disappointment”
“we want to be the bestrun private aviation company in the industry. uh that we were going to follow the Delta playbook”
“He liked to connect people that he knew to other people that he knew almost as a sort of form of form of currency”
“I think everything in in some way seems to have been a form of currency to to Jeffrey Epstein”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenbec on Bloomberg Radio.
It is Bloomberg Business Week Daily. That's Carol Masser. I'm Tim Stenc. Uh worth checking in once again on that IPO. Cerebra System shares today. Wow, what a day. Up uh 68% by the end of the day. — Yeah, but a lot, you know, think about it. It was up 108%. So, um, not saying, um,
Is there no pleasing you? — You know, I do have high standards. Uh, totally, totally. No, but I'm just saying that, you know, there was a lot of enthusiasm and you definitely saw it right out of the gate. Um, still almost 70% higher. That's what you want to see. You don't want to see it down at all cuz
Um Yeah, that's never never good when you win. — A win too for the banks, including Morgan Stanley. — Yeah. Right. Exactly. Hey, uh, we want to get to a Bloomberg exclusive.
Yeah. It's also one of the most read stories on the Bloomberg terminal today. It's about the disappointment among Jared Kushner's influential M East investors that their funding has not yielded the influence they'd hoped for.
David Gillan is Bloomberg new senior editor. He's one of the editors on this story. He joins us from New York.
David, welcome. Jared Kushner is of course the president's son-in-law. He's also a special envoy for the president.
He's also a private investor handling billions of dollars. His affinity partners manages some $6 billion.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- mideast diplomacy and private investment
- kushner whatsapp outreach
- private equity fees
- air travel earnings and partnerships
- media investigation influence networks
Companies and tickers mentioned
- DAL
- Affinity Partners
- Wheels Up
- Delta Air Lines
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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