Kushners, Trump In-Laws, Near $400 Million Deal With Chinese Firm -
By CHARLES V. BAGLI and MICHAEL FORSYTHEMARCH 14, 2017
A New York real estate company owned by the family of President Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law is negotiating to sell a $400 million
stake in its Fifth Avenue flagship skyscraper to a Chinese insurance company with ties to leading families of the Communist Party.
“Kushner Companies is in active discussions around 666 Fifth,” a spokesman said in a brief statement Monday, “and nothing has been finalized.”
A spokeswoman for Kushner Companies had said previously
that Jared Kushner recused himself in November, not long after Mr. Trump’s election, to avoid conflicts of interest.
Ms. Hicks, in an email, also said that Mr. Kushner “has not communicated with anyone regarding this matter since the president took office.”
The Kushners bought 666 Fifth for $1.8 billion on Jared’s birthday in January 2007,
as part of a plan to reposition the family company as a major Manhattan developer.
In his presentation to prospective investors, Charles Kushner, the leader of the family company and Jared’s father, has said
that once renovated, the property would be worth more than $7 billion, according to a real estate broker and two investors who have heard the pitch and spoke on condition of anonymity because they want to do further business with the companies.
Regardless of whether the deal makes economic sense, going into business with the family of the son-in-law of the American president buys Mr. Wu an immense amount of credibility within China
because he’s seen as having influence at the apex of power in the United States, said Minxin Pei, a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College in California, who focuses on Chinese politics and corruption.