The oil rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf were of special interest to the White House adviser.
He was friends with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. He supported the rulers of the United Arab Emirates in their dispute with the state of Qatar. Since the election of Donald J. Trump, his son-in-law, Mr. Kushner, has been active in the region through a nonprofit organization.
The move by Mr. Kushner to raise money from the Persian Gulf states for his new investment firm has raised eyebrows. He is having mixed success so far.
A person familiar with those conversations said that the leaders of the country of Qatar did not want to invest in his firm. A person with knowledge of the discussions said that the main Emirati wealth funds questioned Mr. Kushner's track record in business.
Four people briefed on the negotiations said that the Saudis were more interested. The kingdom's $450 billion Public Investment Fund is in talks with Mr. Kushner over a large investment in his new firm.
In a brief phone call, Mr. Kushner declined to discuss his new firm, but it is not clear which other investors he has spoken to so far inside or outside the United States. A person familiar with the firm's plans says Mr. Kushner hopes to raise billions of dollars by early next year.
The ethics of trying to raise large sums of money from officials he had dealt with on behalf of the U.S. government has been raised by his inquiries to Middle Eastern wealth funds.
The time Mr. Kushner spent running his family's real estate company is what his business experience is all about. The purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan for $1.8 billion in 2007, became a financial albatross when the recession hit. His father-in-law became president and he was the owner and publisher of The New York Observer.
Mr. Kushner had a close relationship with Saudi Arabia's defacto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The White House stood behind Prince Mohammed after the US intelligence agencies concluded that he was behind the killing of a Saudi journalist.
It is not the first time a former White House official has entered a lucrative business deal with the administration's allies in the Persian Gulf. People familiar with the matter say that Steven T. Mnuchin, Mr. Trump's Treasury secretary, has already received investments from the Saudis, the Emiratis and the Qataris.
Other former advisers and employees have sought money from the Saudis. An official from the Saudi Embassy in Washington refused to speak.
It turns the stomach when former White House officials start cashing in on their time with the government. Is it legal? Nick Penniman is the founder and chief executive of Issue One, a good-government organization in Washington. Is it hypocritical? Yes.
The image is.
Steven T. Mnuchin, who was the Treasury secretary under President Donald J. Trump, has raised $2.5 billion for his new private equity fund.
Two people with knowledge of the trip said that Mr. Kushner made a stop in the United Arab Emirates. While working in the White House, he developed a close relationship with the ambassador to Washington from the United States of America, and worked closely with the leaders of the United States of America to open diplomatic relations with Israel.
The person with knowledge of the discussions said that Mr. Kushner ran into Emirati concerns about his business record while in the White House.
Before joining the Trump administration, Mr. Mnuchin, who led a trading desk at Goldman, financed Hollywood movies and turned a failing regional bank profitable, had had better luck. Two people familiar with the matter said that the Public Investment Fund and the Emirati officials invested in his new investment fund, Liberty Strategic Capital. Liberty has a diverse investor base that includes U.S. insurance companies, family offices, and other institutional investors, according to a spokesman for the firm.
One person familiar with the deliberations said that the officials of the country were worried that they would face reprisals if they rejected the investment proposal.
When Mr. Trump was in office, officials in the country suspected that he held back requests for investment by the family of Mr. Kushner. The views of the officials were reflected in the coverage of Al Jazeera.
The Saudis and the Emiratis tried to cut off diplomatic and trade ties with the rest of the region as part of a power struggle, but Mr. Trump initially appeared to support them.
Now, it appears that Qatar is more secure. It has hosted and subsidized a major American air base, and has recently strengthened its position as an ally by playing a key role in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The cash injection to the Kushners for 666 Fifth Avenue was provided by a real estate fund that was invested by the state of Qatar.
Four people familiar with the matter said that Mr. Kushner is still in negotiations with Saudi Arabia, but no deal has been announced. His relationship with senior Saudi officials goes back to the beginning of the Trump administration.
In the first three months after Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Kushner arranged a private meal with the president at the White House for Prince Mohammed, even though the prince had not yet been designated as the successor to the throne.
Mr. Kushner pushed for his father-in-law to go to Riyadh for the first time to attend the international summit. Mr. Kushner helped negotiate a 10-year agreement for Saudi Arabia to buy more than $110 billion in American weapons. The crown prince was named in June.
Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed addressed each other by their first names. Intelligence reports show that Prince Mohammed was involved in the plan to execute the journalist.
Mr. Trump kept those reports classified throughout his term, which was seen as an attempt to protect the prince. President Biden called Saudi Arabia a "pariah" and has adopted a much cooler approach to the kingdom than his predecessor.
While in the White House, Mr. Kushner tried to convince Arab states to give economic benefits to the Palestinians in exchange for concessions to Israel. The more limited Abraham Accords on normalized relations with Israel were achieved after his talks with the Emiratis and a few neighbors.
Since leaving the White House, Mr. Kushner has adopted a low profile. He and his family relocated to Miami to escape the media glare of New York and Washington. In the last few months, he established Affinity there.
He told associates that he doesn't want to return to politics. The Abraham Accords Institute for Peace is a nonprofit group that will seek to expand trade ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
A person with knowledge of the firm's plans said that Mr. Kushner hopes his new firm will find opportunities in the Middle East. One area of interest is to build investment relationships between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The person said that approaching investors in the United States and abroad is on the agenda.
According to two people with knowledge of the move, Affinity recently hired a founder of the Silicon Valley investment firm and a money manager for a founder of the private equity firm. One of those people said that Asad Naqvi, a former partner at the London-based private equity firm, has joined the investment team. The hires were reported earlier. The chief executive officer will be Mr. Kushner.
Neither Mr. Pearlman nor Mr. Naqvi responded to questions.
