The Seattle Seahawks have announced some tragic news. Former owner, businessman and philanthropist, Ken Behring, has passed away at the age of 91.
In 1988, Behring and his business partner Ken Hofmann purchased the Seahawks from the Nordstrom family – the original owners of the franchise – for $79 million dollars. Behring owned the team from 1988 until 1997.
Behring is perhaps best known in Seahawks’ history for threatening to move the franchise to Southern California after failing to secure city funding for a new stadium. The ownership group of Behring and Hofmann even moved team operations down to Anaheim in 1996.
However, Behring eventually agreed to sell the team to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1997 for $200 million. After moving on from the team and the NFL, Behring continued to live charitably.
In 2000 he created the Wheelchair Foundation, which has given hundreds of thousands of free wheelchairs to those in need around the planet. Behring also donated generously to the Smithsonian, University of California, Berkeley, and the Global Health and Education Foundation.
We at Seahawks Wire wish our condolences to the Behring family during this time.
