Seattle Conditions
Hourly Forecast
11am
58°
12pm
60°
1pm
61°
2pm
64°
3pm
65°
4pm
66°
5pm
67°
6pm
67°
7pm
66°
8pm
65°
9pm
63°
10pm
62°
11pm
60°
12am
59°
1am
58°
2am
57°
3am
56°
4am
56°
5am
55°
6am
55°
7am
54°
8am
56°
9am
56°
10am
57°
Today
67°
Tonight
54°
Wednesday
67°
Wednesday Night
54°
Thursday
68°
Thursday Night
55°
Friday
73°
Friday Night
56°
Independence Day
73°
Saturday Night
55°
Sunday
71°
Sunday Night
55°
Monday
73°
Monday Night
56°
☼
Sunrise 5:13am · Sunset 9:12pm
☰
Tides: Next: Low -1.8 ft at 11:52 AM
●
AQI 25 — Good
◆
1 recent quakes (max M5.5)
Seattle Sports
8th in Western Conference Division
WIN Dream 90 at Storm 105 Sat, Jun 27
Latest News
Updated 3 minutes ago
Capitol Hill Seattle
City Cast Seattle
Daily Journal of Commerce
Davy Jones Locker Room
Eater Seattle
Field Gulls
Fremont Neighbor
GeekWire
KUOW Seattle Now
Lookout Landing
My Ballard
NW Asian Weekly
NW Progressive Institute
On Montlake
Phinney Wood
PubliCola
Puget Sound Business Journal
Seattle Gay News
Seattle Medium
Seattle Met
Seattle Transit Blog
Seattle Weekly
Sounder at Heart
South Seattle Emerald
The Needling
The North American Post
The Seattle Times
The Spectator
The Stranger
The Urbanist
West Seattle Blog
Westside Seattle
Davy Jones Locker Room
28 days
Melinda French Gates Becomes Minority Owner of the Seattle Kraken
Melinda French Gates is becoming a minority owner of the Seattle Kraken, the team’s parent company said Monday, pending approval from the NHL. The size of her stake and the terms were not disclosed. French Gates, 61, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is buying into One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Kraken. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan first reported the deal. French Gates is worth about $30 billion, according to Forbes, and the investment is her first ownership stake in a major professional sports team. She joins a group led by majority owner Samantha Holloway that includes minority investors David Wright, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Holloway became majority owner in December 2024 after the death of her father, David Bonderman, the TPG co-founder whose group, Seattle Hockey Partners, won the expansion franchise. “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 the 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.” “It’s just time,” French Gates told ESPN. “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, the rebuilt Memorial Stadium, and the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The group is pursuing an NBA expansion team for Seattle. What this means for the Kraken Nothing changes from a hockey operations standpoint. Jason Botterill will continue to be the GM, they are conducting an audit, they will pursue free agents and make draft picks and attempt trades and it will be business as usual there. The addition brings financial security. Though the NHL has a hard salary cap, Scouting, front office salaries, player development, analytics, facilities, and support staff are not subject to an NHL salary cap and can vary from organization to organization, depending on the owners’ willingness and ability to spend money. A group with French Gates’s money can cover all of that through a rebuild without needing the team to turn a profit, and won’t be forced to cut costs or tear the team down in a bad year. There is also a very expensive NBA bid going on. In March, the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, and Holloway’s group, advised by JPMorgan Chase and Moelis, is the only public Seattle bidder. The NBA hired PJT Partners to evaluate the markets, ownership groups, and arenas and the expansion fees is projected to be somewhere in the $6 to $10 billion range. French Gates is now an owner in One Roof, the group pursuing the NBA team, so her money is already behind that effort. Though we don’t know the extent of her stake, her fortune is several times the projected fee, and because the NBA weighs the strength of each ownership group, her name helps the Seattle bid. Her most visible impact will probably be in the community. The One Roof Foundation has focused on getting more kids into sports, and French Gates has spent her career working on opportunities for women and families. Holloway said, “We’re really aligned on that.” For the Kraken, the deal leaves them with a richer, steadier ownership group. For One Roof, it adds another prominent name as it tries to bring the NBA back to Seattle.
GeekWire
28 days
Code.org rebrands as CodeAI, solidifying its shift to AI education
"Nobody knows the jobs of the future, but a sure bet is that every job will involve AI," said Hadi Partovi, who co-founded the nonprofit in 2013. "We have a responsibility to prepare the next generation for the biggest change in society since the invention of public education." Read More
GeekWire
29 days
Melinda French Gates takes minority stake in Seattle Kraken hockey team
French Gates called herself "a big believer in the power of sports" and said that after many years of "cheering on Seattle from the sidelines," she's excited "to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community." Read More
GeekWire
29 days
Medical technology giant plans to put its longtime Seattle-area campus up for sale
Philips plans to put its Bothell, Wash., campus up for sale, marking a significant moment for Washington state’s medical device industry and for a site that helped establish the region as a global center for ultrasound innovation. Read More
GeekWire
29 days
Zuckerberg’s yacht leaves Seattle’s Lake Union, anchors in Elliott Bay
After several days docked on Lake Union, drawing crowds and hecklers, Mark Zuckerberg's superyacht slipped back through the Ballard Locks and is now anchored in Elliott Bay. Why it's in Seattle remains unclear. Read More
GeekWire
29 days
Rec Room’s final day: Fans say goodbye as social gaming platform comes to an end
The Seattle social gaming platform, once valued at $3.5 billion, shuts down at noon Pacific today after a decade and 150 million players. Fans are marking the end with tribute videos, yearbook-style goodbyes, and final virtual gatherings. Read More
