Donald Trump Jr received approximately $300,000 in equity from Kalshi, a private prediction market platform, after joining the company as a strategic adviser early last year, according to sources familiar with the matter. At the time of the share transfer, Kalshi was valued at under $2 billion, significantly lower than its most recent funding round valuation of $22 billion. The company is reportedly in discussions to raise additional capital at a valuation near $40 billion by the third quarter of this year.
The equity stake given to Trump Jr was a donation rather than an investment of his own funds. However, as Kalshi's valuation has rapidly increased, his holding has accrued substantial paper gains. The stake has been diluted over the past 18 months as Kalshi issued new shares during its growth phase.
Kalshi operates as a prediction market that allows users to bet on binary outcomes, covering topics ranging from political events such as President Donald Trump’s potential purchase of Greenland to sports outcomes like the football World Cup winner. The platform, along with its rival Polymarket, gained prominence after traders on both platforms accurately forecasted Trump's 2024 presidential election victory.
Under the current administration, regulatory bodies have taken a relatively hands-off approach toward these prediction markets. This regulatory leniency has aided Kalshi’s rapid expansion, with the company now drawing billions of dollars in monthly trading volume. Sports betting represents a significant portion of activity on both platforms, a development that has led to legal challenges in several U.S. states.
Trump Jr’s involvement with Kalshi aligns with broader financial interests held by the Trump family in businesses linked to the administration's policy agenda. Together with his brother Eric Trump, he has contributed to a $1 billion investment fund managed by a New York brokerage focused on sectors such as drone manufacturing and cryptocurrency. Trump Jr also holds a small equity stake in online weapons retailer GrabAGun and joined the advisory board of the cage-fighting organization Mixed Martial Arts last September. Additionally, he became an adviser to Polymarket in August, coinciding with an undisclosed strategic investment by 1789 Capital, an investment group in which he is a partner.
Prior to Trump’s 2024 election victory, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had challenged Kalshi’s contracts related to congressional elections but lost the case shortly before election day and dropped its appeal in May last year. Similar investigations by the CFTC and Department of Justice into Polymarket’s handling of bets by U.S. individuals, despite the platform being technically available only to overseas traders, were closed two months after. Meanwhile, the CME Group, a major derivatives exchange operator, recently filed a lawsuit against the CFTC over its approval of perpetual futures contracts on cryptocurrency prices; Kalshi began offering these crypto perpetual contracts last month.
Kalshi and Trump Jr declined to comment on the matter.