Billionaire investor Vinod Khosla officially became the new owner of the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday. But while speaking to reporters after his addition to the NFL owners’ club was approved, he revealed that he’s been a longtime fan of another team – and still is.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Khosla revealed that when he first moved to the United States from India in 1976, he became a Pittsburgh Steelers fan because they were the dominant team in the NFL at the time. Though Khosla may have alarmed some Seahawks fans by then declaring that he still is a Steelers fan and watches all of their games.
“I also happened to come to this country in ’76 when the Steelers were winning Super Bowls,” Khosla said. “So, actually, I was originally, and still am, a big Steelers fan also — a little-known fact — but I still watch all the Steelers games, too.”
Seahawks vs. Steelers
Seahawks fans tend to have some very bad memories when it comes to the Steelers. Their Super Bowl XL loss to the Steelers 20 years ago was marred by accusations that the referees were fixing the game for the Steelers.
But Khosla is hardly the first NFL owner to have been a fan of a different team growing up. ProFootballTalk pointed out that Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was a New York Giants fan prior to buying the team. He once went so far as to say that he would “always be, deep inside, a Giants fan.”
Suffice it to say, it’s not unprecedented for NFL owners to have feelings for teams other than the ones they own.
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Vinod Khosla made his fortune as a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, which helped revolutionize the computer workstation and networking industries. After Sun’s success, Khosla became a prominent venture capitalist, joining Kleiner Perkins in 1986 and helping finance influential technology companies.
In 2004, he founded Khosla Ventures, focusing on technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, robotics, sustainable energy and other emerging industries. Known for making bold, sometimes contrarian investments, Khosla has backed companies including Square, DoorDash, Instacart and OpenAI.
He made his first foray into the NFL by purchasing a three-percent stake in the San Francisco 49ers. That stake will obviously be sold (if it hasn’t already).
