Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital Reveals $215 Million Investment in Amazon
Thrive Capital, led by Joshua Kushner, has acquired approximately $215 million in Amazon shares, as revealed in a regulatory filing on Friday. This announcement coincides with the week the firm informed investors of its decision to sell some of its stake in OpenAI, which Amazon now owns nearly 5% of.
The purchase was made public through a regulatory disclosure, and while Thrive declined to provide additional comments, Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
This week has been somewhat complicated for a straightforward interpretation. Thrive's initial official investor letter, sent just days prior, indicated the firm is divesting part of the OpenAI stake that has become significant for them.
Amazon has also invested in OpenAI, executing a $50 billion investment this month that grants it close to a 5% stake, ahead of the anticipated company listing.
When examined together, these actions appear to be more of a shift in strategy than a new investment. Thrive is divesting from an illiquid private stake while increasing its position in a liquid public asset, which includes part of the same investment.
Amazon is also backing other ventures. The company has continually financed Anthropic, committing to contribute up to $25 billion more in April, while realizing a $16.8 billion paper profit from that investment in a single quarter.
At the core of both investments lies the computing power. AWS provides much of the infrastructure on which these model companies operate, representing the true value a shareholder acquires.
The stock market has reacted positively, with Amazon surpassing a $3 trillion market valuation this month, becoming the fifth company to do so.
This trend isn't isolated. Earlier this year, Thrive invested around $100 million in Shopify, noting advantages related to AI in e-commerce, and its public investments already encompass Figma, StubHub, and Oscar Health, the insurance company co-founded by Kushner.
Kushner explained the rationale behind these moves: “Many of our growth-stage companies compete with, partner with, or evolve into the next generation of public technology companies,” he stated. “The more precise our understanding of public markets, the better our judgment will be in private markets.”
This is a logical perspective, and it highlights a venture firm engaging in filing 13Fs. The lines between supporting private companies and trading public ones are becoming increasingly blurred, and Thrive is at least making its activities visible to all.
Published August 14, 2026 - 4:37 pm UTC
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Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital Reveals $215 Million Investment in Amazon
Thrive Capital, led by Joshua Kushner, has purchased $215 million in Amazon shares just days after announcing the sale of a portion of its stake in OpenAI.
