Key Takeaways:
A senior Trump administration official invested as much as $250,000 in a venture fund whose portfolio companies later received federal contracts he oversaw.
Josh Gruenbaum, the former commissioner of the GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, invested $100,001 to $250,000 in a Thrive Capital fund in March 2025, ten months before the agency awarded Thrive-backed Databricks a $1.8 million sole-source contract, according to financial disclosures and federal records reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
"The overlapping roles raise serious questions about whether standard contracting safeguards were bypassed," Representative Gerald Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who launched a probe into the GSA's relationship with Ramp in May 2025, said in a statement.
Gruenbaum also participated in discussions about a separate $25 million contract for Ramp, a fintech company valued at roughly $13 billion that counts Thrive Capital among its backers alongside Peter Thiel and Khosla Ventures. GSA Administrator Ed Forst blocked the Ramp award in April and asked Gruenbaum to step down, according to people familiar with the matter. Gruenbaum said his departure was planned and voluntary. Friday was his last day in the administration.
The episode exposes gaps in ethics oversight at a time when the GSA's SmartPay program handles hundreds of billions of dollars in federal charge card spending — a prize that fintech companies including Ramp have been positioning to modernize. The outcome of Connolly's probe could reshape disclosure and recusal requirements for political appointees with private investment portfolios, potentially raising compliance costs for venture-backed companies seeking government business.
The Thrive Capital web
Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner — brother of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and special envoy — raised a record $10 billion fund focused on technology and AI companies. Gruenbaum's investment was placed through a private wealth manager into a special purpose vehicle dedicated to Databricks, a $194 million Thrive fund, according to SEC filings and disclosure forms.
Gruenbaum said he properly disclosed the investment and recused himself from the contracts in question. He shared an email chain showing he pushed GSA staff to negotiate harder with Databricks to secure better terms for taxpayers. An ethics officer had signed off on the investment in February 2025, provided he notify her of any potential conflicts as they arose.
Neither Thrive nor Joshua Kushner discussed government contracts with Gruenbaum, a Thrive spokeswoman said. Ramp said it was unaware of any ties between Thrive and Gruenbaum. Databricks did not respond to requests for comment.
A pattern of enforcement gaps
The Databricks contract — the first between the AI company and the GSA — was awarded without competitive bidding because it involved updates to software already in use, according to a memo justifying the sole-source process. Some senior GSA officials were unaware of Gruenbaum's Thrive investment even as he participated in discussions about both contracts, people familiar with the agency said.
The episode follows a broader pattern of ethics questions surrounding Trump administration appointees with financial ties to industries they regulate. The last comparable case involved a senior Commerce Department official who held stock in companies affected by tariff decisions, leading to tightened disclosure rules in 2019. That episode resulted in three officials recusing themselves from trade matters and a formal review by the Office of Government Ethics.
For venture capital firms with government-adjacent portfolio companies, the investigation could establish new expectations around recusal and transparency. If Connolly's probe finds evidence of preferential treatment, companies including Databricks and Ramp could face heightened scrutiny on every future government engagement. Ramp's $13 billion valuation and its ambitions to modernize the SmartPay program make the outcome particularly consequential for the fintech sector.
Gruenbaum, who also served as a senior adviser to Trump's Board of Peace and traveled to Moscow for talks with Jared Kushner in January, had no prior government experience before his appointment.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
