JD Vance’s Interesting Investment Portfolio

JD Vance’s latest financial disclosures revealed its wide-ranging investment portfolio, from right-wing streaming service Rumble and popular Catholic prayer app to a controversial biotech company.

Documents filed in 2022 with the Senate Ethics Committee show that Trump’s vice presidential nominee also had financial interests in a cleaning company, a legal technology company and a student loan assistance firm, among other businesses. The Ohio senator asked for an extension to the 2023 filing deadline.

The investments were made through various companies founded by Vance and his associates, some of which were named after JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

One of them is Mithril Capital Management. Vance began his Silicon Valley career in 2016 at Mithril, a technology investment firm including AI and robotics, founded by his friend and billionaire investor Peter Thiel.

Mithril appears to reference a fictional elven metal from a series of fantasy novels. 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 Tolkien’s novels.

One of Vance’s biggest investments is in the conservative video platform Rumble, which hosts many pundits banned from other social media platforms. They include white supremacist commentator Nick Fuentes, accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims after claiming their children were not killed but were “crisis actors.”

In 2022, Vance held two tranches of Rumble shares, one worth between $100,001 and $250,000 and the other between $15,001 and $50,000, according to his disclosure. Members of Congress are required to declare investments in ranges, not specific amounts.

Vance also owns 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, worth $50,001-$100,000 and $1,001-$15,000.

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The Ohio-based company is testing cell therapies and other drugs, some of which may be derived from stem cell lines, including those taken from aborted fetuses or living embryos, Rolling stone previously reported. AmplifyBio said Rolling stone that it does not directly use stem cell lines in its tests, but also does not require the companies it works with to disclose whether such cells were used in development work.

Independent contacted AmplifyBio about the use of stem cell lines.

Vance has repeatedly expressed his support for a nationwide abortion ban and voted against the in vitro fertilization rights bill in Congress in June.

“What I’ve consistently said is that the vast majority of policy here is going to be determined 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 completely reasonable to say that late-term abortions shouldn’t happen except in justified cases.”

Independent contacted Vance’s campaign for comment.

Vance is also investing in Catholic prayer app Hallow, which helps users “cultivate a relationship with God and prayer peace through guided prayer and meditation.” Hallow boasts of being the “best Catholic app” and topped the Apple Store’s free app charts in February.

According to 2022 disclosures, Vance owned two tranches of Hallow shares, each worth between $1,001 and $15,000.

The GOP candidate’s other investments include Mint Apartment Cleaning, a Chicago-based residential hotel cleaning startup, and Off The Record, a legal tech platform developer. He has held shares worth between $1,001 and $15,000 in each.

Vance also owned shares of supermarket giant Walmart, valued at between $50,001 and $100,000.