Jared Kushner's lawyers told CNN Monday he will be stepping down as Publisher of Observer, formerly New York Observer, and will be selling the property into a family trust.
Kushner's ownership created some sticky situations:
- The site was one of only a handful of publications to formally endorse Trump during the Republican primary, although it did not endorse any candidate during the general election.
- In an interview with Recode yesterday, Observer editor-in-chief Ken Kurson said Kushner gave the team ample editorial freedom, but Kushner still faced conflict-of-interest accusations during the election.
- Last July, Kushner received backlash from an Observer employee who wrote an op-ed on the website accusing him of ignoring anti-Semitic imagery in his father-in-law's campaign.
Kushner bought The Observer in 2006 for $10 million. He will be replaced as Publisher by Joseph Meyer, his brother-in-law and the current CEO of the Observer.