On September 29, a consortium of investors led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced a $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts (EA), the publisher behind widely popular video game series like Battlefield, FIFA, and The Sims. The deal marks the largest leveraged buyout in history, and while it will have adverse ramifications for gamers and the industry, the details of the acquisition reveal larger concerns around how President Trump’s son-in-law is monetizing his political connections while selling domestic industries to foreign interests.

At the center of the EA purchase stands Jared Kushner, whose private equity firm Affinity Partners serves as the crucial intermediary between Saudi Arabia’s PIF and American corporate assets. Sources familiar with the matter establish that Kushner “brokered the initial connection” between EA and the PIF, acting as a “central figure in the talks” for months. Yet despite this pivotal role, Affinity Partners will retain only 5 percent equity in EA while the PIF and Silver Lake will hold majority and minority stakes, respectively.

Why does Kushner command such influence over negotiations for a minimal ownership position? The answer exposes the transaction’s true nature: He is providing political cover and regulatory protection in exchange for guaranteed fees.

Six months after leaving the White House following Trump’s first term, Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from the PIF despite objections from the fund’s own advisers. The Saudi screening panel cited “the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management,” concerns that the kingdom would bear “the bulk of the investment and risk,” operations that were “unsatisfactory in all aspects,” and “public relations risks” from Kushner’s prior role in the Trump administration. Days later, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally overruled the panel and approved the investment.

The terms reveal a pay-to-play scheme: On a $2 billion investment, Saudi Arabia pays Affinity Partners $25 million annually in asset management fees, plus a share of profits. This structure guarantees Kushner income regardless of investment performance. Since 2021, Affinity Partners has collected at least $112 million in fees from Saudi Arabia and other international investors but has yet to yield any profits for the governments funding the firm. Following a 2024 Senate investigation, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) concluded that Affinity Partners “may not be motivated by commercial considerations, but rather by the opportunity for foreign governments to pay members of the Trump family.”

Kushner’s involvement essentially forestalls federal regulation of the deal. The EA acquisition should trigger mandatory CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) review under federal law, as required for transactions involving foreign governments acquiring a 25 percent or greater stake in a US business that collects sensitive personal data. EA clearly meets these thresholds. However, sources close to the discussions confirm that Kushner’s involvement would “ease the deal’s path through the CFIUS.” As cronyism becomes commonplace at the highest levels of government, many doubt “CFIUS would or could pursue any action to mitigate risks or block the acquisition by President Trump’s son-in-law.”

The corruption becomes even more glaring when contrasted with the treatment of TikTok. Silver Lake, a key partner in the EA consortium, simultaneously backs the TikTok US purchase alongside Oracle. Yet while lawmakers spent years citing “national security” and “data privacy” concerns to ban TikTok, Saudi Arabia’s PIF faces no pushback, despite arguably representing far greater surveillance risks. Trump’s executive order supporting the TikTok deal explicitly stated that the Chinese company ByteDance would hold less than 20 percent following closure. In the EA acquisition, the PIF holds majority control while Kushner’s Affinity Partners provides political cover through a minimal 5 percent equity position.

The message is unmistakable: National security concerns are invoked selectively to serve financial interests. Kushner collects millions in fees for providing political access that circumvents oversight mechanisms designed to prevent exactly this type of transaction, leaving workers and consumers as casualties of his financial engineering.