Oops.. and they aren't to happy about it either. He betrayed them on the side of the Saudis. What a family. Qatar “Unwittingly” Helped Bail Out Jared Kushner’s Terrible Investment By Jacob Weindling | February 12, 2019 This is one of the largest real estate deals in American history, and it’s hard to see how anything could have happened “unwittingly” given the massive amount of money at stake. What happened is that the Qatari wealth fund (QIA) bought a nine percent stake in Brookfield Property Partners in 2014 (based out of Toronto and New York), who then invested in Kushner’s albatross in 2018—taking a 99 year lease on the property and paying 99 years of rent up front (worth $1.1 billion). Kushner made what is objectively one of the worst real estate purchases in American history when he sank $1.8 billion into 666 (yes, really) Fifth Avenue in Manhattan—and all but $50 million of the sale was financed entirely with debt. This came in 2007, just as the market began to collapse under the weight of Wall Street’s byzantine mortgage derivatives market. It is worth, uh, significantly less than $1.8 billion today. Before selling the building last summer, Kushner had a $1.4 billion mortgage payment due this month. “A source close to Brookfield Asset Management” told Reuters that the Qatari wealth fund was not involved in the deal and there was no requirement for the company to inform the QIA before closing the deal with the president’s son. In fact, “according to two sources familiar with the QIA’s strategy,” this investment angered members of the Qatari government thanks to Kushner and Trump’s staunch support for the Saudi ruling family who helped to organize the Qatari embargo that still lasts to this day. Brookfield Property Partners is its own independent company and at a nine percent stake, the QIA cannot boss them around, but given that Qatar has followed the model of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Russia (and countless other countries who want to spread their influence), and poured tons of its $320 billion wealth fund into the West—investing in landmarks like New York’s Plaza Hotel and Herrods in London—it’s fair to question their motivations in Brookfield Asset Management’s business. The story of Trump’s business is the story of foreign governments like Russia taking advantage of legitimate market activity to gain leverage over a man only governed by the almighty dollar. This is just how a lot of the world works. Governments try to buy influence in myriad ways, and while there is nothing on Brookfield Asset Management’s side of this deal to suggest that this is anything less than a fund trying to buy low on an asset, there is plenty of reason to question Kushner’s motivations given the dire straits in which he found himself. continued https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...ttingly-bailed-jared-kushners-terrible-i.html
