Thrive Capital Discloses $215 Million Amazon Stake Following OpenAI Share Sale

Venture capital firm Thrive Capital, led by founder Joshua Kushner, has acquired approximately $215 million in Amazon.com Inc. shares, according to a recent regulatory disclosure. The equity position, first reported by The Next Web, represents a substantial public market investment for the firm. Thrive declined to comment on the stock purchase, while Amazon did not respond to requests for comment regarding the filing.

The disclosure arrives during the same week that Thrive distributed its inaugural formal investor letter. In the letter, the firm revealed that it is selling a portion of its equity stake in OpenAI, the high-profile artificial intelligence developer that has long been a centerpiece of Thrive’s investment portfolio.

The two transactions reflect an evolving exposure strategy for the firm. Amazon recently finalized a $50 billion investment in OpenAI, securing a stake of nearly 5 percent ahead of the AI lab’s anticipated public listing. By shifting capital into Amazon stock, Thrive trades a portion of its illiquid private OpenAI holding for a liquid public asset that maintains indirect ties to the same artificial intelligence business.

Amazon’s reach across the AI ecosystem extends beyond OpenAI. The technology giant has repeatedly backed rival startup Anthropic, agreeing in April to contribute up to an additional $25 billion. Amazon previously recorded a $16.8 billion paper gain on its Anthropic investment in a single quarter. Both AI research firms depend heavily on Amazon Web Services to supply the compute capacity and server infrastructure required to train and run their models.

Propelled by its central role in cloud infrastructure and AI developments, Amazon surpassed a $3 trillion market valuation earlier this month. The e-commerce and enterprise cloud platform became only the fifth publicly traded corporation to reach that milestone.

The Amazon acquisition fits into a broader pattern for Thrive, which has built several public positions alongside its private venture investments. Earlier this year, Kushner’s firm invested roughly $100 million in e-commerce platform Shopify Inc., pointing to AI-driven tailwinds in online commerce. Thrive’s public portfolio currently features holdings in design tool maker Figma, ticketing platform StubHub, and health insurance provider Oscar Health Inc., which Kushner co-founded.

In the investor letter, Kushner detailed the rationale behind combining private venture backing with public stock trades. "Many of our growth-stage companies compete with, partner with, or become the next generation of public technology companies," Kushner wrote. "The more precise our understanding of public markets, the better our judgment will be in private markets."

As venture firms increasingly submit SEC Form 13F disclosures and manage public market positions, the boundary separating venture capital from public equity trading continues to blur. Thrive's dual approach allows the firm to adjust its portfolio liquidity while preserving strategic exposure to the foundational infrastructure driving the technology economy.