Massive Donation By Kodak Exec Spurs More Questions

Mother Jones reports:

In late July, a wild chain of events occurred when the Trump administration decided to give Eastman Kodak, the film giant that went bankrupt in 2012, an unprecedented $765 million government loan through the Defense Production Act.

The agreement was officially announced on July 28, but the previous day, the price of Kodak’s stock began to surge, following local media leaks about the loan in Rochester, New York (the home of Kodak). This buying frenzy continued for a couple of days.

During that time, billionaire investor George Karfunkel, a member of Kodak’s board of directors, made an unusual transaction: He donated 3 million Kodak shares—worth up to $180 million at the time—to a relatively new Jewish congregation that has almost no public profile.

SCOOP from me and @MotherJones: In the middle of the bizarre Kodak-Trump deal, a Kodak board member donated up to $180m worth of stock to a little-known Jewish synagogue with almost no public profile. What happened to the stock then? It’s a mystery.https://t.co/kzoqQ9vhUk

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) August 11, 2020

Kodak CEO’s fortune swells $79 million as stocks rally on U.S. government loan https://t.co/Hu1hfsy9IK pic.twitter.com/KnwxDdoYzp

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 30, 2020