{"id":780028,"date":"2026-02-27T14:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/780028\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T14:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:26:21","slug":"how-the-seattle-seahawks-sale-will-score-a-touchdown-for-charity-8-years-after-paul-allens-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/780028\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 sale will score a touchdown for charity 8 years after Paul Allen\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Paul Paul Allen, wearing a gray jacket, salutes the crowd during a celebration of the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory in 2014. AP Photo\/Ted S. Warren<\/a> <\/p>\n

When Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died on Oct. 15, 2018<\/a>, he left behind an estimated US$26 billion<\/a> that he wanted to largely leave to charity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Allen died at 65 of septic shock after a yearslong cancer battle. He\u2019s back in the news because his estate is finally selling an asset that represents nearly a quarter of his fortune: the Seattle Seahawks football team, which he bought in 1997<\/a> for roughly $200 million.<\/p>\n

The sale of the 2014 and 2026 Super Bowl champions<\/a> could fetch more than $6.5 billion<\/a> \u2013 a potentially record-breaking sum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Allen never married and he had no children. His sister, businesswoman Jody Allen<\/a>, is his estate\u2019s trustee and executor<\/a>. She\u2019s now overseeing the Seahawks\u2019 sale.<\/p>\n

As law professors<\/a> who study the transfer of property after death<\/a>, we can explain why it often takes a long time for complex estates to settle following the death of ultrawealthy people.<\/p>\n

When most people die, the distribution of any wealth they leave to their heirs or charitable causes<\/a> can be relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n

If all goes well, the process will take a few years at most<\/a>. Homes, vehicles, bank accounts and retirement assets can usually be relatively quickly sold or transferred to members of the family or friends of the deceased.<\/p>\n

When people hear that an estate is still being sorted out years after someone\u2019s death, they often assume that big disputes have interfered with the settlement process.<\/p>\n

Indeed, high-profile celebrity estates, including those that celebrity musicians such Prince<\/a> and Aretha Franklin<\/a> left behind, have been delayed by legal battles.<\/p>\n

But delays are common even without conflicts, particularly when an estate is very large or complex.<\/p>\n

As you might imagine, billionaires\u2019 estates are different. They tend to be more like sprawling business empires than what your beloved aunt left behind when she died. Multibillion-dollar estates usually take many years to unwind because they involve complex assets that are hard to assess and sell.<\/p>\n

Some of Allen\u2019s holdings, for example, were patents<\/a>, which often complicate estate administration<\/a> because intellectual property rights can be difficult to value for tax purposes.<\/p>\n

Although the contents of Allen\u2019s will were made public<\/a> in 2018, the specifics of his estate plan remain confidential<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because he used a private family office<\/a> to manage his wealth \u2013 and he left all of his property owned at death to a private trust<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The specific terms of that trust aren\u2019t publicly known, but his family foundation<\/a> continues to support charitable causes tied to the arts, the environment and the engagement of young people in civic life.<\/p>\n

\"An Jody Allen, the sister of the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 late owner Paul Allen, lifts the Vince Lombardi Trophy as she celebrates with head coach Mike Macdonald after the Seattle Seahawks won their second Super Bowl in 2026. Josh Edelson\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a> <\/p>\n

Sports teams, while clearly valuable, are infrequently sold. That makes them some of the hardest assets to get rid of after an owner\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Jody Allen, as her brother\u2019s executor and trustee, has a legal obligation<\/a> to sell the team for as much money as possible, which requires careful timing and good business judgment when appraising<\/a> the asset\u2019s fair market value.<\/p>\n

She managed the sale of another sports franchise Allen owned, the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>, in 2025. The reportedly $4.25 billion deal<\/a> brought the estate revenue that\u2019s also slated for charity. The timing of the Seahawks\u2019 pending sale \u2013 shortly after their latest Super Bowl win \u2013 is most likely intended to maximize the amount of money the estate will collect from the eventual buyer.<\/p>\n

But some of the National Football League\u2019s rules can complicate a team\u2019s sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other team owners and league officials, for example, must approve any change of ownership. Approval requires the support of more than three-quarters<\/a> of the league\u2019s other owners.<\/p>\n

The NFL also requires<\/a> all teams to submit a succession plan that explains what will happen if their owner dies to reduce the chance of any disruption that could arise from uncertainty of ownership.<\/p>\n

Once the sale does go through, the money could end up in the foundation Paul Allen co-founded.<\/p>\n

Allen donated more than $2 billion<\/a> during his lifetime to support a wide range of causes primarily tied to medical research, education, the arts and the environment.<\/p>\n

Like many ultrawealthy donors, he gave through his own foundation, now called Allen Family Philanthropies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Six years after his death, it had a roughly $1.4 billion endowment<\/a> and made more than $62 million in grants annually. Jody Allen, who co-founded Allen Family Philanthropies with her late brother, serves as its board chair and president.<\/p>\n

The sale of the Trail Blazers, like the upcoming sale of the Seattle Seahawks, may make his foundation far bigger \u2013 leading to even more charitable gifts for years to come.<\/p>\n

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Allen, wearing a gray jacket, salutes the crowd during a celebration of the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[7,16263,6,16261,30458,238,237,261,2635],"class_list":["post-780028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-seattle-seahawks","tag-football","tag-jody-allen","tag-nfl","tag-paul-allen","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-seahawks","tag-seattle","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-seattleseahawks"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116143063162633762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}