Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital has hired legal heavyweight Alex Spiro to represent him in the ongoing legal dustup over FIFA’s doomed $20 billion plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup.
Spiro, a partner at New York law firm Quinn Emanuel whose high-profile clients have included Elon Musk, Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin and Eric Adams, disclosed in a Monday court filing that he’d be representing Kushner and Thrive.
A representative for Spiro declined further comment.
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, asked a Manhattan federal judge last week for permission to subpoena Thrive about its dealings with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. Neither Thrive or Kushner are accused of any wrongdoing.
UEFA is preparing a lawsuit against Infantino over a now-dead deal called for the FIFA Forward Enterprise, which aimed to raise $4.2 billion from Thrive and other investors. The investors would have taken a stake in a new for-profit entity that would have controlled FIFA’s money-making assets, including TV rights, sponsor deals, licensing, and ticketing.
Details of the proposal triggered a major backlash, with UEFA members voting to boycott upcoming international soccer events in protest and pushing to oust Infantino from his role as FIFA’s top boss.
“For UEFA, they want to keep this professional and this isn’t really about Kushner it’s about the football and Infantino – the latter has no place in it,” a source close to the situation told The Post.
Kushner’s camp has acted “professionally” in its dealings so far with UEFA and has spoken directly to UEFA President Aleksander Cerefin, the source added.
In court filings last week detailing the subpoena request, a UEFA lawyer said neither Kushner nor Thrive is expected to be named as defendants in the case.
Nonetheless, UEFA is attempting to force Thrive to turn over documents and to have Kushner sit for depositions as part of a potential criminal case against Infantino in Switzerland, where UEFA and FIFA are headquartered.
UEFA’s lawyers alleged that Infantino, who is up for re-election as president of FIFA in March, had engaged in “criminal mismanagement” of the organization. The body also said on Aug. 1 that it had no confidence in his leadership.
As The Post was first to report, Kushner broke his silence on the deal in a lengthy statement on Monday.
“While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to,” Kushner said. “Thrive has a long track record of being a partner to all constituents. Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.”
Kushner added that the proposed deal was “an idea that every Member Association would vote on, not an obligation or determination.”
“Money in football has historically been concentrated amongst a small group of countries,” Kushner added. “The idea behind FFE was to direct more capital and equity equally amongst all 211 member countries, providing significantly more investment to underdeveloped nations to nurture local talent, support grassroots football, enhance the fan experience, and ultimately grow the global game everywhere.”
