The estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced Tuesday morning that it has begun the process of selling the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, which would be a major milestone in fulfilling Allen’s directive to sell his sports holdings and direct the proceeds to philanthropy.
Allen’s estate said the announcement does not impact its ownership of the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise, or its 25% stake in the Seattle Sounders MLS team, which are not for sale.
Who will buy the franchise? The news will no doubt spark months of speculation — and plenty of tech leaders with Seattle or Pacific Northwest ties could be in the mix.
- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown no interest in buying sports teams, at least not publicly, and he has his hands full with winding down the Gates Foundation over the next two decades.
- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been speculated to be a possible buyer of NFL teams including the Seahawks and the Washington Commanders, but he hasn’t shown any obvious interest in basketball.
- A group that included Nike co-founder Phil Knight, based in Oregon, made a $2 billion bid for the Trail Blazers in 2022, a move that could resurface now that the team is officially on the market.
The sale is part of the long process of divesting many of the assets and investments that Allen made during his lifetime, following his death in 2018 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The Trail Blazers sale process is expected to continue into the 2025–26 NBA season, according to the announcement. The estate has retained investment bank Allen & Company and law firm Hogan Lovells to oversee the sale. The NBA Board of Governors would need to ratify any final purchase agreement.
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