Kalshi parts ways with Donald Trump Jr. as advisor after his firm's big Polymarket investment
US prediction market platform Kalshi and Donald Trump Jr. have agreed to end his advisory role. The move follows a $300 million investment by his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, in rival Polymarket.
Kalshi, a US prediction market platform, has said it agreed with Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the US president, to end his role as a strategic advisor. The decision came shortly after his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, made a large investment in Kalshi's competitor Polymarket. Prediction markets are platforms where users place wagers on the outcomes of events, and their regulation in the US is contested.
"We have mutually agreed to end Don's advisory role after his firm's significant investment in a competitor this past summer," Kalshi said in a statement. A company spokesperson said the matter had been discussed internally since August, when the 1789 Capital investment became public. Both sides understood that advising two competitors in a growing sector complicated matters.
Financial stake
Trump Jr. may still hold a financial interest in Kalshi. The Financial Times reported in June that after joining the platform in early 2025 he received equity worth about $300,000, when the company was valued at under $2 billion. Its latest funding round valued it at $22 billion, and it is reportedly in talks on a new round at $65 billion. Trump Jr. is also an advisor to Polymarket.
The CEO's explanation
Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour told MS Now that the company faces an "optics issue," but said the relationship was not political and that Trump Jr. had no regulatory or policy involvement. According to Mansour, the focus was on getting the word out about prediction markets.
Regulatory backdrop
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal derivatives regulator, has backed prediction markets: it has sued 11 states to block state-level regulation and filed briefs supporting Kalshi in its cases. Attorneys general in several states accuse Kalshi of running unlicensed gambling. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley raised concerns about Trump Jr.'s investments in both platforms in a November 9 letter to the White House counsel.
