Samantha Holloway has “quietly joined” her father David Bonderman as the co-owner of the Kraken, and will "assume the team’s seat" at the NHL BOG meetings this week in Florida, according to Geoff Baker of the SEATTLE TIMES. Holloway becomes the NHL’s third principal female team owner, joining the Avalanche’s Ann Walton Kroenke and Sabres’ Kim Pegula. Holloway said she thinks there is “definitely some extreme importance in me elevating to this role.” She said that she is “prepared for the public aspect of primary team ownership.” Baker noted Holloway sold her Denver-area home in July and relocated to Seattle with her husband, Greg, and two children “to be an on-site presence.” She had initially “bought a minority investor’s stake” when Bonderman and sports partner Jerry Bruckheimer were awarded the franchise in December 2018. But this “latest ascension puts Holloway on par with Bonderman in the team’s decision-making hierarchy,” after he named her co-chair and co-owner. She also is the "best positioned locally, with Bonderman now 80 and often preoccupied with other matters in his TPG Capital global investment empire.” Engagement “wasn’t always great last season,” when the Kraken had the NHL’s third-worst record. But Holloway “feels a foundation was built and is now growing, with the team improved and players getting out into the community post-pandemic without restrictions.” Holloway “meets regularly with team executives, including in hockey operations," and she “had lunch last week at the Kraken Community Iceplex with coach Dave Hakstol." She also ”chats frequently” with GM Ron Francis and President Victor de Bonis, who is "joining her at the board of governors meetings” (SEATTLE TIMES, 12/11).
Samantha Holloway becomes the NHL’s third principal female team owner, joining the Avalanche’s Ann Walton Kroenke and Sabres’ Kim PegulaANTHONY BOLANTE/Puget Sound Business Journal
