Ryan Williams, a Baton Rouge native with ties to Jared Kushner and his brother, Josh, is trying to move past a White House disclosure controversy that put his real estate company in the national spotlight.
Williams is the owner of Cadre, a real estate investment company he cofounded in 2014 with help from the Kushner brothers, according to Bloomberg. Williams met Josh Kushner when they were freshman at Harvard. The brothers had a network of connections that helped bring in advisers, investors and customers for Cadre, which lets wealthy investors buy small stakes in residential and commercial buildings.
Cadre lists both Kushner brothers as founders.
The Kushner brand, however, landed Cadre in hot water a month ago, when The Wall Street Journal reported that Jared Kushner didn’t disclose his investment in Cadre when he became a senior advisor to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, sparking ethics questions.
Williams says he’s grateful for Jared Kushner’s role in the company. He tells Bloomberg Kushner was “a really important adviser,” but emphasizes that Kushner “has no operational control, governance or say on the company.”
Kushner—who’s married to Ivanka Trump—stepped down from Cadre’s board and sold some of his stake in the company before the inauguration.
Now, 29-year-old Williams wants to shift the focus of the newfound curiosity about Cadre to a different name: Andreessen Horowitz, the venture firm that’s leading Cadre’s newest $65 million round of financing. Jeff Jordan, a partner at the firm, is joining Cadre’s board.
Jordan says he was impressed by Williams’s unusual background. Growing up in Louisiana, Williams started his first business by buying worms, cutting them in half and selling them in a bait-and-tackle venture.
