By Robert Haugh
The family buying the Seattle Seahawks has deep ties to the San Francisco 49ers, including a current ownership stake and a former internship.
Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla, a 49ers minority owner, has agreed to purchase the Seahawks for a reported $9.612 billion. That’s the highest price ever paid for an NFL franchise. Wow.
The deal is still subject to approval by NFL owners.
As part of the transaction, the Khosla family will be required to sell its 3.1 percent interest in the 49ers. NFL rules do not allow an owner to hold financial interests in competing teams.
The Khoslas purchased their 49ers stake in May 2025.
At the time, Vinod Khosla and his son Neal Khosla described themselves as longtime fans and season-ticket holders who had attended games together for roughly 30 years.
Neal Khosla also previously interned with the 49ers. ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham said he expects the younger Khosla to have a major role in the Seahawks’ day-to-day operations. An NFL memo said Neal Khosla is expected to hold a “significant leadership role” in the ownership group.
Vinod Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems, once one of Santa Clara’s most prominent technology companies. He later founded Khosla Ventures.
The Seahawks are coming off a Super Bowl championship and are considered a well-run organization. That gives the Khoslas a strong starting point.
They also arrive with an education from their years around the 49ers.
They may have picked up lessons on how not to turn a once-positive relationship with a City into years of lawsuits, political warfare and unpaid bills.
Unrelated to this story, Robert, you need to look into the dealings of the 49ers public affairs team and their ongoing involvement leading into the November elections. Santa Clara residents need to be aware of Ellie Caple, Elijah Lefkow, and Emily Swide, because they’re the ones responsible for the amount of negative spending on our local races. This isn’t widely covered enough.
The worst part is that they try to control public narratives ahead of council votes that involve the stadium by targeting their favorite council members and hiring Republican consulting firms like Targeted Victory, who ran PR campaigns for the 49ers targeting Santa Clara residents and swaying public perception, truly misleading residents and voters. Santa Clara is officially a company town thanks to this team.
Another thing that should be mentioned is how this PR team has Assembly Member Patrick Ahrens wrapped around their fingers. Let’s note that Ahrens introduced 17 bills this last cycle and only 2 got signed. Pathetic work in the legislature, if you ask me. So if your legislation is failing so terribly, why is Ahrens out collecting information from Santa Clara residents to funnel back to the 49ers? Shouldn’t he be focusing on his work in Sacramento.
There is a lot happening in Santa Clara politics, and this issue hasn’t been raised enough.
Voters need to pay attention to who is spending money on their local elections. Anything PAID FOR BY 49ERS OR DEBARTOLO corp is NOT good for Santa Clara.
Time to clean up our city! Get rid of the council yes men. 2 of them. Then stakeout the wolves in sheep’s clothing taking their place. Call out their agendas. That’s the ticket!
Khosla is a guy that owns oceanfront property south of Half Moon Bay and denies coastal access to the public. He’s a bad guy, denying access to Americans. Disappointing he owns an NFL team.
Let’s hope Neal has learned how not to operate a team thanks to his internship with Jed. And stays out of Seattle politics.
So now we have three NFL owners with interest in santa clara issues. Look I ended any respect to Jed York when he lied to the soccer parents in 2013. HE LIED.
Now Stephen Ross. My great love for Lisa Gillmor is borne from the fact that she can agree to disagree. I am not on board with Related. I know Lisa has faith in it. OK given a thirty-year career, the Mayor gets a pass on issues where I am not on board. Maybe it will turn out. I just don’t support it. We can move forward given the remarkable strides the Mayor has made in ethics. Why do the foolish trio of Jain, Becker, and Park refuse to support a dark money ban? It reduces any such issue.
Oh well