Khosla family closes $9.612 billion Seahawks purchase

Closing and ownership

In a statement on Thursday, the family set out who does what: Vinod Khosla is chair; Neeru Khosla is controlling owner and president of the Seahawks Charitable Foundation; Neal Khosla is vice chair. The family also named co-owners: Mark Stevens, the Aramburuzabala family, Val Blavatnik, Sheryl Sokoloff, Gonzalo Hevia Baillères, Jesse van der Werf, Samir Kaul, Sunny Gupta, Nader Naini, Penny Pritzker, Carlyle, Dynasty Equity and Sixth Street. Neeru Khosla chairs the CK12 Foundation, a non-profit she co-founded.

The family said it was "honoured and excited to begin this next chapter" and praised the Seahawks' "championship culture, winning football, and a deep connection to the 12s and the Pacific Northwest." The closing ends Jody Allen's tenure as controlling owner, a role she took after Paul Allen's death in 2018.

Approval and record price

NFL owners voted unanimously to approve the sale at a one-day league meeting in Atlanta on 26 August. Approval needed at least 24 of the 32 votes. The approval was widely expected. The estate announced the agreement on Saturday, 11 July, after ESPN's Adam Schefter and Seth Wickersham first reported it.

The $9.612 billion price is 59% higher than the previous NFL record. Josh Harris paid $6.05 billion for the Washington Commanders in 2023. Paul Allen bought the Seahawks for $194 million in 1997. The closing price is nearly 50 times that. The price was below the $10 billion some had floated. USA Today reported the price is the third-biggest for a North American sports team, behind Lakers sales of $10 billion and $12.5 billion in back-to-back years.

Why the sale happened

Allen's will required the team to be sold and the proceeds donated. Most of the money goes to the Paul G. Allen Foundation, according to the NFL. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, committing a large share of his wealth to philanthropy. The estate opened a formal sale process on 18 February, less than a month after the Seahawks won Super Bowl 60.

The 49ers stake and the buyers

Khosla bought a 3.1% stake in the 49ers in 2025 in a deal that put the total value of the franchise at $8.5 billion; USA Today reported the stake as 3.5%. League rules required him to sell that stake before taking control in Seattle. Allen & Co. ran the sales process. A league memo said the Khosla group was the preferred buyer among multiple qualified bidders. Khosla, 71, co-founded Sun Microsystems and runs Khosla Ventures. Per Forbes, the firm was the first venture firm to invest in OpenAI. Forbes put Khosla's net worth at $13.7 billion.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said the Khosla family understands Seattle, its fan base and the league. "That makes this transaction particularly attractive to all of us," Goodell said.

The Seahawks open the season against the New England Patriots on 9 September, a rematch of Super Bowl LX.