Melinda French Gates is joining the ownership group of One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the company behind Seattle’s bid to bring back the NBA. One Roof announced the move Monday. The size of the stake and the terms were not disclosed.
French Gates, 61, is the philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and is worth about $30 billion, according to Forbes. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan first reported the deal. It is her first ownership stake in a major professional sports team. She joins a group led by majority owner Samantha Holloway that includes Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and David Wright.
Holloway became One Roof’s majority owner in December 2024, after the death of her father, David Bonderman, the TPG co-founder who built the ownership group. One Roof controls Climate Pledge Arena, which was rebuilt to host an NBA team, and has hired JPMorgan Chase and Moelis to build the Seattle bid.
“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.”
Holloway said in a statement, “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.”
French Gates told ESPN the timing mattered to her. “It’s just time,” she 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.”
Though originally from Dallas, French Gates has lived in the Seattle area for nearly 40 years. She joined Microsoft in 1987, where she met Bill Gates, and worked on multimedia products before leaving in 1996. She co-chaired the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2000 until 2024 and now runs Pivotal, a Kirkland-based organization she founded in 2015 to support women and young people in the United States and abroad.
One Roof Sports and Entertainment, created in March, owns the Kraken and controls Climate Pledge Arena, along with the Kraken Community Iceplex, Acrisure Arena, and the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The group is pursuing an NBA expansion team for Seattle to bring back the Seattle Supersonics.
What it means for the Sonics bid
One Roof is the group trying to bring an NBA team to Seattle, and French Gates is now an owner in it. The league has not decided whether to expand. In March its Board of Governors voted to explore adding teams in Seattle and Las Vegas and hired the investment bank PJT Partners to evaluate the two markets, their arenas, and their ownership groups. Adam Silver has said he wants an answer by the end of 2026, that the league could add both cities, one, or neither, and that he expects multiple bidders. Expansion needs 23 of the 30 current owners to approve.
The NBA is looking closely at each city’s ownership group, and French Gates makes Seattle’s stronger. Seattle’s group controls Climate Pledge Arena, which was built to host an NBA team. Adding a $30 billion investor puts more money behind a fee projected at $7 billion to $10 billion, and it gives the Seattle group a bigger name when the owners compare it to Las Vegas. We don’t know what Samantha Holloway’s net worth is, but it is unlikely she has the money by herself to pay the expansion fee. This now gives Holloway a strong financial partner.
When the league reviews the bids and decides who to let in, Seattle will have the arena, Holloway as lead owner, and a wealthier group than it had last week. “We are hopeful, we are working on it, and stay tuned,” Holloway said.
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