The Seahawks have had the upper hand over the 49ers in recent years. However, one representative from the latter is now pursuing a move that could add an unexpected twist to one of the NFL’s fiercest rivalries.

Per Front Office Sports, 49ers minority owner Vinod Khosla is among the top contenders to buy the Seattle Seahawks. His only major competitor is a group led by Boston Celtics minority owner Aditya Mittal and former Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck.

Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, began his journey with the 49ers in the summer of 2025. He and his son, Neal, are longtime 49ers fans and have held season tickets since Neal was five years old. At the 49ers Horizon Summit last year, Khosla said that the decision to join the franchise was “pretty easy.”

However, if his bid for the Seahawks is successful, he would have to sell his stake in the 49ers under NFL ownership rules, which prohibit cross-ownership of multiple franchises.

A few other names have dropped out of contention, according to Sportico. Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, who was reportedly circling the deal, has stepped back. Todd Boehly, who co-owns the Dodgers, Lakers, and Chelsea FC, was also linked to the sale earlier.

Per Front Office Sports, a former Seahawks player is also part of one of these groups. The player’s identity has not been disclosed, and all parties involved have largely kept the process out of the public eye.

A representative from the Allen estate told FOS that “there is no news to share about the sale process.”

Paul Allen purchased the Seahawks in 1997 and remained the team’s owner until his death in 2018. During his ownership, Seattle captured its first Super Bowl title following the 2013 season and won three NFC championships. The team’s ownership passed to Paul’s sister, Jody Allen, who is its current chair.

The franchise officially entered the sale process in February after the Paul G. Allen Estate announced it was acting on Allen’s directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct the proceeds to philanthropy. The estate also noted that any final agreement will require approval from NFL owners.

Early estimates pegged the eventual sale price somewhere between $9 billion and $11 billion, which would comfortably surpass the $6.05 billion paid for the Washington Commanders in 2023, the current record for an NFL franchise sale.

49ers minority owner advances in bid for Seahawks

Khosla’s story is one of the more compelling ones in this whole bidding war. Born in India, he moved to the United States in his early twenties and went on to earn his MBA from Stanford. From there, he co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and served as its very first CEO.

After spending time as a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins, he launched his own firm, Khosla Ventures, in 2004. The company has backed several companies, including Affirm, Opendoor, DoorDash, and OpenAI. In May 2025, Khosla and his family bought a 3.1% stake in the 49ers, joining two other local families as non-controlling minority owners in a deal that valued the franchise at more than $8.5 billion.

Reports first surfaced in early May this year that he was preparing a formal letter of intent for the Seahawks bid, and that interest clearly hasn’t faded since. Front Office Sports now lists Khosla’s group as one of the final two contenders still in the running.

So while buying the Seahawks would be a huge win personally, it would also require Khosla to part ways with the franchise he has supported for decades, a notable twist if he ultimately becomes the owner of one of San Francisco’s biggest NFC West rivals.