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Donald Trump Jr. will not take on a role in the White House, choosing instead to join the venture capital firm 1789 Capital.
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The company, co-founded by Omeed Malik, funds conservative causes such as Tucker Carlson’s media venture.
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The Florida company is anti-ESG. It focuses on ‘ESV’, or entrepreneurship, innovation and growth.
The venture capital firm that Donald Trump Jr. is reportedly joining is eschewing investments that advance social and environmental issues and instead focusing on what it calls “ESV,” or entrepreneurship, innovation and growth.
The Palm Beach, Florida-based company, called 1789 Capital — the U.S. Constitution was enacted that year — has invested in Tucker Carlson’s new conservative media venture, Substack, and BlinkRx, a prescription startup.
The president-elect’s eldest son — who played an active role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and is now part of his transition team — told a group of supporters at a conference earlier this week that he would join 1789 as a partner , The New York Times first reported. Several people with knowledge of the matter also told Bloomberg about Trump Jr.’s plans.
The company was co-founded in 2022 by Omeed Malik – a former Bank of America executive who also founded the boutique investment bank Farvahar Partners – along with author and investor Christopher Buskirk.
Malik, who once co-organized a Trump fundraiser that raised more than $10 million, serves as the company’s president and Buskirk as chief investment officer, according to the website. According to political donation records, both Buskirk and Malik have donated to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, the Republican National Committee and other conservative causes and candidates.
The company bills itself as “anti-ESG” – an acronym for companies that say they are committed to certain environmental, social justice and corporate governance-oriented principles. One of 1789’s areas of interest concerns companies or sectors that have suffered negative impacts from ESG, according to the website. It also focuses on what it calls deglobalization, building an economy that runs parallel to the traditional one, and disrupting industries that the system sees as burdened by excessive bureaucracy.
Like 1789 Capital, Trump Jr. has long been a proponent of the parallel economy, also known as the “patriot economy,” a term used by MAGA conservatives to refer to companies that align with their traditional values.
And Trump Jr.’s connection with Malik, the president of 1789 Capital, includes the pair’s mutual support of a parallel economic platform called PublicSquare.
Both Malik and Trump Jr. have been investors in and outspoken supporters of PublicSquare, an online shopping marketplace similar to Amazon that bills itself as a place to connect Americans with “companies that value life, family and freedom.” To use the platform, companies must commit to PublicSquare’s core values, including the “sanctity of every life,” “the family unit,” “liberty and truth” and adhering to the U.S. Constitution.
Malik and Trump Jr. together rang the ceremonial opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on the day the company went public in 2023, Time Magazine reported at the time. Malik did not return a request for comment from BI.
As for 1789 Capital’s own investments, the firm has contributed $15 million to the Tucker Carlson Network, the conservative commentator and former Fox News host’s new media venture, according to VC database PitchBook.
On its website, the company does not advertise its specific investments, but does offer a broad list of sectors it is interested in, including consumer, fintech, healthcare, B2B SaaS services, technology-based services, software, infrastructure, energy and special situations.
Representatives of Trump Jr. through the Trump Organization and the Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment from BI. Buskirk also did not respond to requests for comment from BI, nor did the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Jordan Cohen.
Read the original article on Business Insider
