How Richard Seymour, Super Bowl Champion And 93 Ventures Co-Founder, Became A Minority Owner Of The Las Vegas Raiders
Richard Seymour is a minority owner in the league he once played in.
A three-time NFL Super Bowl champion and Hall of Famer, Seymour played in the league for 12 seasons and earned $89.5 million in career earnings, notes Spotrac. Beyond the playing field, he has been taking charge within the business and investing arena. In fact, he co-founded 93 Ventures — named as an homage to his jersey playing for the New England Patriots — alongside venture capitalist and strategic advisor Albert G. Sye IV. According to its website, the venture capital firm is based in Atlanta and has interests in industries such as late-stage pre-IPO tech unicorns, growth-stage consumer packaged goods and fintech, and early-stage Web3. Its investment portfolio includes Lyft, Airbnb, Sundae, Dapper Labs, and Calaxy, which is a social marketplace founded by tech entrepreneur Solo Ceesay and NBA star Spencer Dinwiddie. Calaxy has direct-to-consumer monetization and is intended to create more intimate experiences between influencers and entertainers and their audiences, as AFROTECH™ previously reported.
Full-Circle Moment
Seymour has also had interest in team ownership. USA TODAY Sports reports that in 2024 he became a limited partner of the Las Vegas Raiders — formerly known as the Oakland Raiders— owning 0.5%. This is a full-circle moment as Seymour was traded unexpectedly by the Patriots to the Oakland Raiders just before the 2009 season, but in hindsight it was all a part of the plan, he says.
With the move, Seymour is one step closer to fulfilling his long-term dreams of becoming a majority owner of the NFL.
“Sometimes, you don’t know what God has planned for you,” Seymour told USA TODAY Sports. “If I never got traded, I don’t think I’d have become an NFL owner.”
Seymour is part of a growing list of Black minority owners, which includes Magic Johnson (Washington Commanders) and former Toronto Raptors players Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady (Buffalo Bills). McGrady also discussed the importance of seeing a transition from limited partners to majority ownership in a previous interview with AFROTECH™.
“When you look at the NFL, all these guys are billionaires. But none of them look like me. To have that opportunity to walk into that door and be a part of that, I think, sets the precedent of now that you in here, you gotta hold yourself to a higher standard,” McGrady expressed. “And hopefully, not just being a limited partner now, now we need to get guys in to be majority owners. That was the goal.”
