One Roof Sports and Entertainment's majority owner and managing partner, Samantha Holloway, and new minority investor, Melinda French Gates, pose for a photo. (Courtesy of One Roof Sports and Entertainment)
Melinda French Gates is joining the ownership group of the Seattle Kraken and One Roof Sports and Entertainment as a minority investor, pending approval from the NHL.
One Roof S&E – which also holds a controlling stake in Climate Pledge Arena – announced the addition of French Gates to its ownership group.
"I am excited to welcome Melinda to our ownership group," Kraken owner Samantha Holloway said in a release. "Melinda is an impressive business leader, philanthropist and importantly, a Seattle sports fan. We share many of the same values, including a deep commitment to Seattle and a belief in building organizations that create lasting impact."
The agreement with the Kraken and One Roof S&E marks French Gates' first foray into sports ownership.
"As a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future," French Gates said in a statement. "I’m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I’m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community. Seattle is an engine of innovation in so many ways, and Samantha Holloway’s leadership of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena reflects that."
French Gates – who has an estimated net worth around $30 billion, according to Forbes – will join minority investors such as David Wright, Andy Jassy and Jerry Bruckheimer with the Kraken and One Roof S&E.
The addition is also notable as Holloway also prepares to make a bid for an NBA expansion team for Seattle. French Gates would be an obvious potential investor to join Holloway in making the bid to bring the Sonics back to Seattle.
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French Gates is a passionate philanthropist and previously served as the chairperson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation until 2024. She has also founded Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation.
In an interview with Emily Kaplan of ESPN.com, French Gates said the chance to impact sports by making women more visible in leadership roles, and providing youth access to sports were among her reasons for joining the group.
"It's just time," French Gates said. "What you're seeing is a generation of women coming into their full power. I've walked into tough rooms, and being one of the few is very hard. Once we can create enough that we're one of many, it just gets easier."
And depending on how involved in sports French Gates wants to become, the Seattle Seahawks are also currently on the market. With her substantial net worth as one of the 100 richest people in the world, she'd certainly have the financial wherewithal to make a bid. The Seahawks are being sold by the Paul G. Allen trust, which has been run by Paul's sister, Jody, since his death in 2018.
Allen and Gates were co-founders of Microsoft.
The Source: Information in this story came from One Roof Sports & Entertainment, ESPN.com, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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