Kraken Founding Owner David Bonderman Dies

It was only my fourth day on the job in a new city, and I found myself sitting across a table from David Bonderman.

This was back in 2003. I was the newly minted editor of the Portland Business Journal, and Bonderman’s private investment group — Texas Pacific Group, known as TPG — had just struck a deal to purchase Portland General Electric (PGE) from Enron Corp. for $2.35 billion. Several high-powered executives were in the room, including a former Oregon governor and the CEO of PGE.

It was, to say the least, a complicated and somewhat tense meeting given the controversy surrounding Enron’s accounting scandal and the uncertain fate of many in the room. Bonderman was calm, professional, and very much in charge. I remember his impressive grasp of even the smallest details, and his reassurances that PGE would remain headquartered in Portland. The deal eventually died when regulators rejected it.

I thought of that today when I learned that Bonderman — the founding owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken — had died at the age of 82.

Bonderman graduated from the University of Washington in 1963, and even worked as a security guard at the Space Needle while in college. He was also a leader in efforts to build Climate Pledge Arena under the historical roof of the former KeyArena. A statement from the Kraken noted that Bonderman himself “notoriously stood up in a meeting and pointed to the location where a red ‘eye’ should be inserted into the Kraken ‘S.’”

“And so, our brand was born,” Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said in the statement. “David had a love for the Pacific Northwest, and a passion for sports and music that came together when he founded the NHL’s 32nd franchise, the Seattle Kraken, and rebuilt Climate Pledge Arena, alongside his partners at OVG. He was a visionary; unafraid to take on challenges and make bold decisions. He was smart, witty, curious, and humble.”

Bonderman served in the Johnson administration and later argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He co-founded TPG in 1993, helping turn it from a three-person office to a publicly traded company with nearly $240 billion of assets under management and 28 offices around the world. He received several honors for his business acumen, including a Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, the Woodrow Wilson Award of Corporate Citizenship, and his induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

A statement from his children read: “We are all grateful for having experienced his wisdom, wit, generosity, and love. His zest for life, and his passions, especially sports and music, were infectious. He was always there for his friends and family, and we will miss him greatly.”

Bonderman was the father of five and the grandfather of three. His daughter, Samantha Holloway, remains the Kraken’s owner.