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JD Vance’s recent financial disclosures have revealed a diverse investment portfolio – from right-wing streaming service Rumble and a popular Catholic prayer app to a controversial biotechnology company.
According to 2022 filings submitted to the Senate Ethics Committee, Trump’s running mate also had financial interests in a home services provider, a legal technology developer and a student loan assistance company, among others. The Ohio senator has requested an extension for his 2023 filing.
The investments were made through various companies founded by Vance and his associates, some of which appear to be a nod to JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
One of them is Mithril Capital Management. Vance started in Silicon Valley in 2016 at Mithril, a company that invests in cutting-edge technologies such as AI and robotics and was founded by his friend and billionaire Peter Thiel.
Mithril appears to refer to the fictional elven metal from the fantasy novel series. Vance also has investments through Narya Capital, which he co-founded in 2019 and which appears to be named after one of the Rings of Power from the Tolkien novels.
One of Vance’s biggest investments is the conservative video platform Rumble, which hosts a number of pundits banned from other social platforms, including racist commentator Nick Fuentes, human trafficking accused Andrew Tate and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting after claiming their children were not killed but were “crisis actors.”
In 2022, Vance held two tranches of Rumble shares, one valued between $100,001 and $250,000 and another valued between $15,001 and $50,000, according to his disclosure. Members of Congress are required to report investments within ranges, not specific amounts.
Vance also holds stakes in biotech startups, including AmplifyBio, a company founded in 2021 to develop “next-generation cell and gene therapies.” The Republican held two tranches of AmplifyBio shares in 2022, valued at $50,001 to $100,000 and $1,001 to $15,000.
The Ohio-based company is testing cell therapies and other drugs, some of which are derived from stem cell lines, including those derived from aborted fetuses or living embryos. Rolling Stone has already reported. AmplifyBio said Rolling Stone that the company does not use stem cell lines directly in its tests, but does not require the companies it works with to disclose whether such cells were used in their development.
The Independent has contacted AmplifyBio regarding its use of stem cell lines.
Vance has repeatedly expressed support for a nationwide ban on abortion and voted against the Right to IVF Act in Congress in June of this year.
“I’ve always said that the majority of policy here is made by the states,” Vance told CBS News in May. “I’m pro-life. I want to save as many babies as possible. And of course I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say that late-term abortions, with reasonable exceptions, shouldn’t happen.”
The Independent has asked Vance’s campaign team for comment.
Vance is also involved with the Catholic prayer app Hallow, which helps users “build a relationship with God and find the peace of prayer through guided prayer and meditation.” Hallow boasts of being “the No. 1 Catholic app” and topped the Apple Store charts for free apps in February.
According to 2022 disclosures, Vance held two tranches of Hallow shares valued at $1,001 to $15,000 each.
The GOP candidate’s other investments include Mint Apartment Cleaning – a hotel-like cleaning startup for multifamily properties based in Chicago – and Off The Record, a developer of legal technology platforms. He held stakes in both companies valued at between $1,001 and $15,000.
Vance also owned shares of supermarket giant Walmart worth between $50,001 and $100,000.
