{"id":551,"date":"2026-06-02T16:43:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=551"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:43:16","slug":"melinda-french-gates-is-done-cheering-on-seattle-from-the-sidelines-shes-buying-into-the-bet-to-bring-the-sonics-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=551","title":{"rendered":"Melinda French Gates is done \u2018cheering on Seattle from the sidelines\u2019 \u2014 she\u2019s buying into the bet to bring the Sonics back"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>French Gates, 61, is the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. She and her $30 billion net worth, according to Forbes, join an ownership group headlined by majority owner and managing partner Samantha Holloway, as well as investors David Wright, Andy Jassy and longtime Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=549\">4 Democrats compete to run against New Jersey Republican who\u2019s been missing for months with \u2018personal medical issue\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future,\u201d French Gates said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I\u2019m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>French Gates has never previously had an ownership stake in a major professional sports franchise. She will do so at a time when the Kraken ownership group is positioning itself to own an NBA franchise should the NBA return to the Emerald City for the first time since the SuperSonics were relocated to Oklahoma City nearly 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>In March, the Kraken ownership group\u00a0announced the creation of One Roof Sports and Entertainment, which serves as the umbrella brand of the organization to \u201coversee a growing portfolio of properties and fuel new opportunities.\u201d\u00a0At the time, Holloway announced that One Roof would pursue an NBA team in Seattle, should the league move forward with expansion.<\/p>\n<p>Holloway also announced in March that the group had entered an agreement to purchase additional equity in Climate Pledge Arena from Oak View Group, and would make the organization the majority owner of the building. OVG has retained a minority stake.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=547\">\u2018This administration cooked up a sham deal\u2019: New York sues Trump administration for refunding foreign company $1 billion to end offshore wind project<\/a><\/p>\n<p>French Gates, who grew up in Dallas and received a bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science and economics, as well as an MBA from Duke, currently heads Pivotal, a group of organizations she founded to accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people in the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>French Gates previously founded and co-chaired the Gates Foundation, the world\u2019s largest philanthropy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited to welcome Melinda to our ownership group,\u201d Holloway said in a statement. \u201cMelinda 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=545\">New jobs report shows 7.6 million jobs added in April as layoffs and people quitting their jobs both fell<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I\u2019m a big believer in the power of sports&#8221;: French Gates&#8217; $30 billion net worth joins the group with the most credible NBA expansion bid in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philanthropy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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