Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and his son Neal are the new owners.
The Seattle Seahawks are changing owners for only the fourth time in franchise history. The Paul G. Allen Estate has reached an agreement to sell the team to a group led by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and his son Neal for $9.6 billion, ESPN first reported Saturday. The price shatters the NFL record of $6.05 billion set by the Washington Commanders in 2023 and is one of the largest valuations ever recorded for a sports franchise, landing just below the $10 billion paid for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The sale closes a chapter that began in 1997, when Paul Allen bought the team for $194 million to keep it from being moved to Southern California. Allen’s will directed that his sports assets be sold to benefit charitable causes, and his sister Jody Allen has run the team since his death in 2018. That means the proceeds of this record sale, roughly 49 times what Allen paid, will flow into philanthropy. It is a distinctly Seattle ending: a Microsoft co-founder’s rescue of the team becomes one of the largest charitable windfalls in sports history.
The buyers keep the franchise in tech money, just a different generation of it. Vinod Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems, launched Khosla Ventures, and was an early backer of OpenAI, DoorDash, and Stripe. His firm has invested in Seattle-area startups including Loti, Viome, and Lexion, and backs Seattle’s AI2 Incubator. Neal Khosla is the co-founder and CEO of Curai, an AI telehealth company, and was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI in 2023. The family holds a 3.1 percent stake in the San Francisco 49ers, which they will be required to sell.
The Khoslas beat out a rival group led by ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal and Boston Celtics figure Wyc Grousbeck. The agreement now goes to the NFL’s finance committee and requires approval from at least 24 of the league’s 32 owners. The league hopes to complete the transfer before the Seahawks open the season at home against New England on September 9. Neither the team, the Allen Estate, nor the Khoslas have commented publicly.
The timing makes this sale unusual in another way. The Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions, and no title-winning team in the Super Bowl era has changed owners the following season. The Khoslas inherit a winning front office, a fan base that just watched its second championship, and the question every new owner faces: whether to leave a good thing alone. Seattle will find out starting in September.
