Seachx Sold! NFL Owners Rejoice
A group led by San Francisco 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla has agreed to purchase the Seattle Seahawks, it was announced Saturday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but multiple league sources with knowledge of the matter said the selling price would be $9.612 billion, a record for an NFL franchise.
As part of the deal, which is subject to owner approval, the Khosla family will be required to relinquish its ownership stake in the 49ers. The family will become the Seahawks' controlling owner.
Owners have been given a date in late August to keep open for a special meeting to approve the deal, the sources said.
"We are honored to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks," said Vinod Khosla on behalf of the Khosla family. "We look forward to building on the winning legacy Paul Allen created and to earning the trust of the Seahawks organization and fans everywhere."
The Seahawks went up for sale after the team beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl this year. The franchise has been owned by the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen since his death in 2018. Allen's sister, Jody, has controlled the team as executor of the trust, with a directive from her brother to eventually sell the Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and donate the proceeds to charity.
Paul Allen agreed to buy the Seahawks from Ken Behring in 1996, with the deal becoming official in 1997. The deal saved the team from a potential relocation to Southern California.
The Seahawks have made the playoffs in seven of the past 10 years. They are based at legendary Lumen Field, which opposing players have said is one of the toughest stadiums to play at and which received nearly $20 million in upgrades ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The franchise also has one of the NFL's best-regarded general manager-head coach combinations in John Schneider and Mike Macdonald.
Khosla is the founder of Khosla Ventures, a venture capital firm, and has a net worth of $13.8 billion, according to Forbes. Khosla Ventures has made early-stage investments in companies including OpenAI, DoorDash and Instacart. He joined the 49ers ownership group in 2025, buying 3.1% of the team at a more than $8.5 billion valuation.
It's unclear who else is a part of Khosla's investor group.
The last NFL franchise to go up for sale was the Washington Commanders, which a group led by Josh Harris purchased for $6.05 billion in 2023. Before that, the Walton-Penner family bought the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion in 2022. The record price paid for any American sports franchise is $10 billion, set when Mark Walter agreed to purchase majority ownership in the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family in 2025.
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Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Vinod Khosla’s wife, Neeru, will be controlling owner of Seahawks
A group led by multibillionaire Vinod Khosla will be buying the Seahawks. But Khosla won’t be running the Seahawks.
Via veteran NFL reporter Mark Maske, Khosla’s wife, Neeru, will serve as the controlling owner of the team. The disclosure, per Maske, was made in a memo sent by the league to the various franchises.
The transaction hinges on league approval. The fact that Vinod Khosla previously was approved to hold a minority interest in the 49ers will streamline the process.
Their son, Neal, is (per the memo) is “expected to have a significant leadership role in the ownership group.”
For Seahawks fans (and currently employees of the team) the question becomes whether new management will make significant personnel changes. As evidenced by the Seahawks winning Super Bowl LX, it ain’t broke. There’s no current reason to fix it.
Still, with Vinod Khosla and company paying $9.612 billion for the Seahawks, it’ll be his prerogative to do with the asset as he and his family members choose.
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Vinod Khosla “excited” to see all money from his Seahawks purchase “go to a non-profit”
Typically, the exorbitant price paid for a major-league sports franchise goes into private pockets. The proceeds from the $9.612 billion sale of the Seahawks will, like every asset distributed by the Paul G. Allen Estate, go to charity.
“Excited to be part of this great franchise,” Vinod Khosla, the leader of the group that will be buying the team, said on Twitter. “Also excited to see the money all go to a non-profit.”
In that respect, the delayed sale of the team following the passing of Paul Allen has worked to the significant benefit of the charity that will benefit from the transaction. Three years after the Commanders sold for a then-record $6.05 billion, the bar has been raised by more than 50 percent.
Khosla, 71, also posted a link to his Wikipedia page. In 1976, Khosla came to the U.S. from India to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering. He co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982. Four years later, he joined venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins as a general partner.
A leading venture capitalist, he prefers the term “venture assistant.”
His wife, Neeru, will serve as the controlling owner of the team, if/when the transaction is approved by at least 24 owners.
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