Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla is reportedly preparing a bid to buy the Seattle Seahawks.
The Super Bowl champions have been in the Allen family since 1997, when Paul Allen bought the team for $194million from then-owner Ken Behring. But the co-founder of Microsoft died in 2018 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 65.
Allen’s sister, Jody, has led the Seahawks and the NBA team he owned, the Portland Trail Blazers, since his death. But Allen left a directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all estate proceeds to philanthropy.
The Seahawks were officially put up for sale just days after Sam Darnold led them to victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, with the team valued at nearly $7billion.
Reports at the time claimed that the Seahawks were expected to be sold at a record price for any franchise in sports history.
And now Sportico reports that Khosla – a recent investor in the San Francisco 49ers – is working on a bid.
Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla is reportedly preparing a bid to buy the Seahawks
The 71-year-old is the founder of Khosla Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. He previously co-founded computer firm Sun Microsystems in 1982.
According to Forbes, Khosla’s net worth is around $14.4bn and reports claims he recently filed a letter of intent as part of the process to buy the NFL giants.
The Trail Blazers were sold last September to an investment group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon for around $4bn.
The last NFL team to hit the market, meanwhile, were the Washington Commanders. A group led by NBA great Magic Johnson and Josh Harris paid $6.05bn for the team in 2023.
The most expensive US sports team in history is the Los Angeles Lakers, who were sold last year by the Buss family to Mark Walker last June for around $10bn.
