Seahawks sale: Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook reportedly not interested

The first report stating names who might be interested in buying the Seahawks surfaced Thursday and was refuted a few hours later.

Roughly two hours following a report from Front Office Sports surfaced stating that Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook were thought to be interested in making a bid for the team, a report from Bloomberg News offered denials.

"Glad we could intercept the rumors on this one: Mark is not making any investment or bid for the Seattle Seahawks," a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Bloomberg also reported that Separately, a person familiar with Cook also denied he was making a bid for the team." Cook has announced he will step down from Apple in September.

The author of the Front Office Sports story, Ben Horney, took to X to initially stand by his story, then later issued a clarification stating: "Update: a source close to Apple tells @FOS the rumor of Cook's interest in the Seahawks is 'completely false.' Meanwhile, a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg is not making a bid. Spokespeople for both had ample opportunity to deny our report before it came out."

If nothing else, the reports illustrate the secrecy that has hung over the process, which is common when it comes to sales of major sports franchises.

The initial Front Office Sports story Thursday morning was the first time since the Seahawks were officially placed on sale on Feb. 18 that there had been any report of possible owners.

Front Office Sports had initially reported that: "Five sources familiar with the matter tell Front Office Sports they've heard Zuckerberg is considering a bid, while four say Cook is separately weighing an offer. The identities of the other two potential bidders were not clear, nor was it known whether any formal offers had been made."

The FOS story hedged on the report, noting that there was no confirmation of the interest of any of the buyers stating: "Allen & Co., the bank running the sale process for the Seahawks, as well as the seller, the Paul G. Allen estate, declined to comment. Representatives for Meta and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and direct representatives for Zuckerberg and Cook could not immediately be reached."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offered the only public comment on the sale at the NFL league meetings on March 31, stating: "There is no news to report. Since we last met (his news conference prior to the Super Bowl) they are officially for sale. They hired a bank and they are going to work with them and there is a great deal of interest in that. That's about all I know at this stage."

Paul Allen bought the Seahawks for $194 million in 1997. His sister Jody Allen became team chair upon his death in Oct., 2018. Allen's directives upon his death mandate the eventual sale of all of his assets. Another team owned by Paul Allen, the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, were officially sold in March for $4 billion.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider have stated several times that things are "business as usual" with the team during the process of the sale. That appeared confirmed when they re-signed receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a new contract making him the highest-paid nonquarterback in league history.

The team conducted something of a passing of the torch in having team vice chair Bert Kolde, a longtime friend of Paul Allen who has had a role with the Seahawks since he purchased the team, conduct one of the calls during the draft to let a player know the team had selected him.

"Obviously the team is going to be sold, so it's Bert's last draft with us, Schneider said.

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