Paul Allen estate formally agrees to sell Portland Trail Blazers to Tom Dundon

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) –  The Portland Trail Blazers are one step closer to attaining new ownership, as Paul Allen's estate announced their entry into a formal sale agreement with the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

Last month, the Trail Blazers reached a deal to sell the team to Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, who expects to buy the team from Allen’s estate for more than $4 billion.

According to a statement from Allen Family Philanthropies, Dundon will be joined in co-ownership by Marc Zahr, co-president of Blue Owl Capital, Portland-based Sheel Tyle, the co-founder of investment firm Collective Global, as well as the Cherng Family Trust, the family office of the co-founders of Panda Express and the Panda Restaurant Group.

Although terms of the deal have not been disclosed, the statement noted each owner has confirmed their intention to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland.

Allen’s estate announced in May that it had begun the process of selling the team. The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, who died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, originally bought the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million.

His sister Jody Allen has since served as the chair of the Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, which Paul Allen also owned, and a trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust.

Allen also owned the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and was a co-owner of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders.

The sale of the team in 2025 comes after Jody Allen rebuffed an offer in 2022 from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Alan Smolinisky. However, Allen said at the time that the teams’ ownership would ultimately change due to the provisions in her brother’s will directing the majority of his wealth be given to philanthropic causes.

Rip City Forever, a group of former Blazers, team officials and community leaders working to ensure the team stays in Portland, shared the following statement in light of the agreement:

"The work to ensure Portland remains Rip City Forever has just begun. A public-private partnership to create a world-class home for the Blazers is at the heart of this effort. We urge Mr. Dundon, together with city and state leaders, to seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to think big and act big – for the future of our city and state."

The current deal remains tentative until the NBA Board of Governors can ratify the agreement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.