That appearance on the Super Bowl winner’s stage, however, is likely to be Allen’s last, as the team is reportedly for sale, according to sources who spoke to ESPN last week. His status as a billionaire trusted to spend a billionaire’s fortune, and now a victorious Super Bowl winner looking at an almost immediate exit from the field, makes him one of the most unusual figures in American sports.

The 67-year-old is the chair and trustee of the Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers with ownership of both passed to him after the 2018 death of his brother, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The longtime owner of Pacific Northwest sports franchises was worth nearly $20 billion at the time of his death, and is widely credited with revitalizing the Seahawks and keeping them in his hometown of Seattle. He also left no spouse or children.

Despite his appearance Sunday in front of more than 120 million Super Bowl viewers, Allen has kept a low profile, keeping his head down to focus on philanthropic ventures. He has led transformative philanthropic initiatives at the helm of his and his brother’s organization, dedicated to funding the arts, education, and the environment.

Jody Allen has not yet confirmed the sale to the Seahawks, which is his brother bought for $197 million in 1997. But Paul Allen’s will stipulated that his assets—including the Seahawks, the NBA’s Trail Blazers, and a 25% stake in the MLS’s Seattle Sounders—would be sold to fund his charitable foundations. Allen’s estate began to fulfill wishes in September, enter into a formal agreement to sell the Trail Blazers for an estimated $4 billion.

A spokesperson from the estate of Paul Allen spoke luck the Seahawks are not for sale, but noted that “that will change at some point.”

A commitment to charity

Jody Allen has overseen more than $1 billion in charitable efforts since he founded the Allen Family Philanthropies, formerly the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, with his brother in 1988 at the age of 29. Last month, the organization dedicated $8 million to national conservation projects, including donations to the Nature Conservancy and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Many of Allen’s donations have focused on national initiatives that span the Pacific Northwest, where Allen and his late brother grew up together. Last November, Allen’s philanthropic organization donated nearly $7 million to Seattle nonprofits dedicated to empowering emerging artists. That follows a series of charitable gifts in the Pacific Northwest focused on the arts and regional climate revitalization.

Over the years, Allen wore many hats within the many arts and science foundations he and his brother founded. For example, he served as the founding director of Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, and he is the cofounder and chair of the Seattle-based bioscience research nonprofit, the Allen Institute.

Focus on winning

While Allen plays a key role in his brother’s philanthropic arm, he also remains razor-sharp on winning as owner of the Seahawks and Trail Blazers. After the 2023 season, Allen Office has partnered an “amicable” decision that longtime head coach Pete Carroll would step down, a move that elevated John Schneider to general manager, who hired Mike Macdonald to replace Carroll as head coach. Macdonald led the team to a total of 27 wins in his two seasons as coach, culminating in Sunday’s Super Bowl victory.

“Pete is the winningest coach in Seahawks history, led the city to its first Super Bowl title, and has made a tremendous impact over the past 14 years on the field and in the community,” Allen said in a 2024 news release.

In 2022, Allen addressed the potential sale to the Trail Blazers and Seahawks, dismissing the rumors and instead, shifting attention to his commitment to winning.

“States of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to disappear,” Allen said in the news release. “There is no ordained timeline by which teams must be sold. Until then, my focus—and that of our teams—is on winning.”

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story described Allen Family Philanthropies as part of the Vale Group. The two entities are separate and distinct.