Why Josh Kushner Became OpenAI’s Fundraising Sherpa

Thrive Capital's repeat investments in OpenAI establish Kushner as “the guy you call in AI” while further tying his reputation—and fund returns—to OpenAI’s success.

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, second from left, and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner, far right, at the Sun Valley conference in July. Photo by Getty.

In mid-July, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman flew into Idaho to mingle with entertainment and tech elites at the annual Sun Valley retreat. Among those by Altman’s side was Josh Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, the New York venture capital firm that had led a recent share sale valuing the ChatGPT maker at $86 billion.

Less than a month later, Altman publicly gave Kushner a pat on the back. Replying to news that Thrive had just raised $5 billion in new funds, Altman posted on X that among the “many great investors” he’s worked with, “there is noone i’d recommend more highly than josh.”