The Seattle Seahawks are in the process of finalizing the biggest franchise sale in NFL history, with the Khosla family set to purchase the Super Bowl champions for a whopping $9.612 billion. While Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla is the main name behind this ownership group, it’s already been confirmed that his wife, Neeru Khosla, would serve as the controlling owner.
In a recent Bloomberg article, which focused on Khosla Ventures’ plan to raise $5.5 billion in investment funds, of which much
of it would be spent investing in startup companies, there’s a nugget regarding how Vinod sees his role in the Seahawks organization. Or, perhaps more accurately, not much of one.
Recently, Khosla personally led an investor group to buy the Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 billion, a deal that if closed would be expected to set a National Football League record. On a recent fundraising call, investors were told that Khosla has no intention of running the Seahawks and is dedicated to his venture investing business, according to people familiar with the matter.
Vinod and Neeru’s son, Neal Khosla, “would be expected to have a significant leadership role in the ownership group,” according to the NFL memo sent out to teams earlier this month. Neal previously interned with his hometown San Francisco 49ers back in 2014.
Meanwhile, there have been questions concerning whether or not there will be other members of the ownership group outside of the Khoslas. Bloomberg additionally reported that there are, “talks with multiple parties to join the consortium, according to people familiar with the matter.
“The discussions include former Sequoia Capital managing partner Mark Stevens and the private equity firm Sixth Street Partners. Carlyle Group Inc. and Dynasty Equity Partners Management are in talks regarding a joint bid,” the report added.
Neither the Carlyle Group nor Dynasty Equity has ever invested in an NFL team, whereas Sixth Street Partners has a stake in the New England Patriots. Carlyle does hold a stake in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Seattle Reign.
You might be wondering if private equity is subject to the same rules as everyone else in terms of not being allowed to have ownership stakes in multiple teams. That is not the case, as Bloomberg’s article notes, “NFL rules permit the league’s four approved private equity businesses to buy into as many as six clubs. The firms can own as much as 10% in a single club and have to take a 3% stake at a minimum.”
The league owners will convene on Aug. 26 to ratify the sale.
