The Kushners' purchase of the Miami Marlins is on hold amid reports that Jeffrey Loria may become the next ambassador to France
With news that Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria could soon become the next US Ambassador to France, the Kushner family on Wednesday said that they are temporarily putting their bid of his baseball team on hold.
According to the New York Times, Loria is expected to be announced in the position in the coming days.
Because Jared Kushner is married to Ivanka Trump and a senior adviser to President Trump, the Kushner family is wary of a potential emolument in which Loria agrees to sell his team to them in exchange for the ambassador post.
"Our family has been friends with Jeff Loria for over 30 years, been in business together and even owned an AAA baseball team together," Joseph Meyer, the brother-in-law of Jared Kushner, said in a statement on behalf of the family.
"Although the Kushners have made substantial progress in discussions for us to purchase the Marlins, recent reports suggest that Mr. Loria will soon be nominated by the president to be ambassador to France," he said.
He continued: "If that is true, we do not want this unrelated transaction to complicate that process and will not pursue it. The Kushners remain interested in purchasing a team and would love to buy the Marlins at another time."
Loria bought the Marlins in 2002 for $158 million. Last week it was reported that he had a "handshake agreement" with the Kushners to sell the team for $1.6 billion. That figure would make for the second biggest price tag in baseball, behind only the Dodgers, who were sold for $2 billion.
Loria is also a longtime Republican donor. According to the Times, during the presidential campaign he was a six-figure donor to Trump's joint-fundraising effort with the RNC.