President Donald Trump’s controversial FBI pick, Kash Patel, is set for a tidy windfall when a China-founded fast fashion company in which he holds shares goes public, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It was recently revealed that Patel has ties to a flurry of foreign entities, including the Embassy of Qatar and up to $5 million worth of unvested stock in Elite Depot, the Cayman Islands-based parent company of e-commerce behemoth Shein.
His mandatory financial disclosures revealed that he consulted for Elite Depot for nine months last year and earned between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares. These shares will become available to Patel when they vest throughout 2025. It was also reported that Patel introduced Shein executives to figures in the Trump orbit.
Financial compensation experts say Patel will be allowed to keep the shares even if he is confirmed as FBI director on Thursday afternoon, when the Senate is scheduled to hold a final vote on his nomination by President Donald Trump. He has agreed, however, to sell the shares he owns in other public companies, including Meta and Apple.
His ties to these tech companies, and Shein, has raised questions about conflicts of interest for a Trump-appointed FBI director who has vowed revenge against perceived political opponents and would hold sweeping investigatory power.
Charles Kupperman, a former deputy national security adviser, said Patel should clear his financial cache to avoid ethics conflicts.
“He should divest all of his interests if he is going to become director of the FBI. This is not a U.S. company and it’s a conflict of interest financially,” he said.
A Patel spokesperson said he’s disclosed all of his income streams, The Wall Street Journal reported. “He looks forward to a swift confirmation that will allow him to start his endeavor to refocus the bureau to making our country safer for all Americans,” the spokeswoman added.
Patel hadn’t, however, divested his stocks when he walked away from his consultant gig with Elite Depot in January. The FBI mentioned only a “remote” chance that this would create a conflict of interest if he was confirmed to run the agency.
According to his ethics agreement, Patel said he wouldn’t participate in anything that “has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests” of the company.
