New PPP Loan Data Reveals Most Of The $525 Billion Given Out Went To Larger Businesses–And A Few With Trump, Kushner Ties

Plus: By The Numbers: Meet The 30 Under 30 Class Of 2021

TOPLINE

After months of litigation, the Small Business Administration finally revealed the name of every business that received a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program on Tuesday night, and early analysis reveals that a majority of the forgivable funds–intended for smaller businesses needing emergency relief for payroll, rent or mortgage expenses–actually went to bigger businesses, including some with ties to President Donald Trump and his administration.

KEY FACTS

More than half of the roughly $525 billion in loans doled out through November went to just 5% of the more than 5 million recipients, an analysis of the SBA data by the Washington Post revealed.

Additionally, while the SBA originally argued that 87% of loans went to smaller businesses, a majority of the total issued in loans was actually given to bigger businesses, the Washington Post reported, and the new data also showed that only 28% of the total funds were used for loans of less than $150,000.

About 600 mostly larger companies–including the parents of Boston Market and Uno Pizzeria & Grill as well as law firms, churches and professional staffing services–received the maximum allowed under the program of $10 million (though food, hotel and hospitality firms were an exception).

A granular analysis of the data by NBC News revealed that more than 25 loans, valued at roughly $4 million, went to businesses at properties owned and rented out by the Trump Organization and the family of President Trump's son-in-law and top advisor, Jared Kushner. 

Fifteen of those properties said they kept one job at most, or failed to report a number at all, reported NBC News–which was one of 11 news organizations, along with the Washington Post, that sued for the data's release, resulting in the Tuesday data dump.

The new data also revealed that the parents of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany received up to $2 million for their Tampa, Fla.-based roofing business, which was previously disclosed as a PPP recipient in July.

KEY BACKGROUND

In March, the $2.2 trillion CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act established the PPP with $349 billion in forgivable loans meant to go to small businesses and nonprofits badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. That first round of funding was exhausted in just 14 days, so the program received an additional $321 billion from Congress in April. Reports soon surfaced that many small businesses claimed they struggled to get loans while dozens of billionaire-owned companies and private equity firms managed to secure funding. After heightened pressure, the SBA released a list of entities that received PPP loans of at least $150,000 in July, but it declined to disclose exact loan amounts or recipients of loans under $150,000, citing privacy concerns by small business owners. Criticism only mounted: In October the SBA's inspector general said there were “strong indicators of widespread potential abuse and fraud in the PPP,” including tens of thousands of businesses that received loans despite being ineligible for them, and in November, a federal judge ordered the SBA to disclose all the names, addresses and exact loan amounts issued through the PPP after a Freedom of Information Act from the aforementioned 11 news organizations. 

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