1789 Capital

1789 Capital was founded on October 3, 2022. The founders were members of the Rockbridge Network, including investment banker Omeed Malik, heiress Rebekah Mercer, and entrepreneur Chris Buskirk. They created the firm as a result of the 2022 Rockbridge Summit. Blake Masters was also involved in the initial conversation, according to Bloomberg. The group chose the number 1789 to reflect the year the U.S. Bill of Rights was adopted. The New York Times reported that Donald Trump Jr. and Malik began planning investments together sometime around 2020, years before Trump Jr. joined the firm. Alexandra Ulmer and Joseph Tanfani from Reuters remark that Peter Thiel was an instrumental force behind the creation of 1789 Capital. Buskirk was a confidant of Thiel's, while Blake Masters, who formerly worked for Thiel Capital, was also a board member. The fund is intended to create a "parallel economy", a network that combines "businesses, media outlets and political organizations" associated with the America First movement. The firm has invested in Anduril Industries, the defense manufacturing company Hadrian, and other Thiel-backed companies. The firm was originally registered in Delaware. , it is still registered there, but has its main office in Palm Beach, Florida, and conducts business in the state, with the Tallahassee branch of the Corporation Service Company as their registered agent. They also have an office in Scottsdale, Arizona. The firm made its first investment into Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel's new media company in 2023. Shortly after Donald Trump won the 2024 United States presidential election, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. announced that he would be joining as a partner at 1789 Capital instead of joining his father in a government position. 1789 Capital and Type One Ventures co-hosted a fundraising event at Mar-a-Lago, which is owned by Donald Trump, on January 15, 2025, 5 days before Trump's inauguration. , the main page for the 1789 Capital website says "Funding the Next Chapter of American Exceptionalism". In September 2025, the company reported its assets amounted to US$861,247,283. == Mission and investments ==

1789 Capital describes itself as promoting "patriotic capitalism", investing in companies that are "anti-woke" and "America First". Malik has also said that the firm "represent[s] the silent majority." • spaceflight company Axiom Space; • the Enhanced Games; • defense companies Anduril Industries, Firehawk Aerospace, and Hadrian; • Juul Labs, which makes e-cigarettes; • online firearms retailer GrabAGun; • rare earth magnet company Vulcan Elements; • Happy Dad LLC, which produces hard seltzer; • financial technology companies Plaid Inc. and Ramp; • cryptocurrency prediction market platform Polymarket; • online newsletter site Substack; and • Last Country Inc., which runs the website for the Tucker Carlson Network. The firm also invests in "almost all of Elon Musk's companies", 1789 Capital invested in GrabAGun, an online firearms retailer which Malik has called "the Amazon of guns", The firm does not invest in companies such as OpenAI that they deem not supportive enough of the Trump administration. On the topic, Donald Trump Jr. said, “I’ve turned down major deals where the ethoses don’t align [...] There are people who have become MAGA more recently — and I don’t know they actually believe.” In October 2025, Colombier Acquisition Corp. III, Malik's special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that has been involved in 1789 Capital's previous investments, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) for the New York Stock Exchange, with an initial share price of $10 and 26,000 units intended to raise US$260 million. Roth Capital Partners was the underwriter for the move, and Chamath Palihapitiya was reportedly planned to be a director for the company. == Members and backers ==

The firm was founded by Chris Buskirk, Omeed Malik, and Rebekah Mercer. Malik serves as president. Buskirk is CIO. Jordan Cohen is listed as partner and COO. Other partners include Paul Abrahimzadeh, Andy Nasser, Donald Trump Jr., Joe Voboril, and Emanuel Zareh. Venture capitalist Blake Masters was previously listed as a member of the Board of Advisors, but has since been removed from the website. Early backers included Marc Andreessen, Charlie Kirk, and Clay Travis. == 1789 Partners ==

1789 Capital has a South Korea-based think tank called 1789 Partners. CEO of the group is Park Byung-eun, who is also involved with Rockbridge Korea, the Seoul-based branch of the Rockbridge Network. Chung Yong-jin of Shinsegae and Rockbridge Korea is also leading the project. == Reception ==

Multiple media outlets, financial figures, government watchdogs, ethics experts, and various Democrats have criticized 1789 Capital for its ties to the Trump administration. Business Insider compared Donald Trump Jr. to Hunter Biden, saying that Trump Jr.'s business dealings–including his involvement in 1789 Capital–resembles the unethical financial schemes that Hunter Biden was accused of pursuing during his father's presidency. Trump Jr. has repeated this claim when questioned about conflicts of interest, Bloomberg, Reuters, and The New York Times have reported that 1789 Capital has invested in multiple companies which received government contracts around the time that the firm invested in them. Omeed Malik's appointment to the board of Fannie Mae, the Trump administration's choices of which federal employees to hire or terminate, and what the RDP calls "conflicts of interest" around DOGE and Elon Musk's involvement with the government. There was some controversy around the firm's investment in Polymarket (and Trump Jr. joining the board of the company) because the investment was announced within months of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) dropping their investigation into the firm and subsequently un-banning them from doing business in the United States. Better Markets president Dennis Kelleher said that Polymarket seemed to be using "a backdoor approach to become a regulated exchange." The Daily Kos, a left-wing media blog, commented sarcastically: Around August or September 2025, Rebecca Ballhaus of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) filed a broad FOIA request to the SEC, asking for "any records involving 1789 Capital, including any emails and text messages to or from 1789 Capital domains and any records that mention 1789 Capital." In October 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that 1789 Capital had "tried to sell sponsorships for a conference pitched to companies as the 'Inaugural U.S. Treasury A.I. Summit,' during which it said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would unveil the Treasury Department’s artificial-intelligence strategy." The Wall Street Journal also reported that the organizer for the event, a company called the Prometheus Initiative, was co-founded by Christopher Buskirk, who also co-founded 1789 Capital. Other critics include Richard Painter and Ann Skeet. == See also ==