Well this came out of left field: At the end of his opening statement at the Seattle Sounders Alliance Meeting, Joe Roth announced that Adrian Hanauer is the club's new majority owner. Details are sparse and it's unknown how much, if any, of the club's ownership Roth has retained, but Hanauer appears to be the undisputed top dog at the organization now.
Adrian Hanauer is the new majority owner of the Sounders, as announced by Joe Roth
— Matt Pentz (@mattpentz) November 13, 2015
Hanauer has been a minority owner during the Sounders' seven MLS season, but bought the USL team in 2002 and continued to run the club until they moved up to MLS following the 2008 season.
Prior to launching a successful MLS bid, Hanauer joined forces with Roth and comedian Drew Carey. Paul Allen also was part of the ownership group, lending the Seahawks business operations for his stake. It's possible that Hanauer bought Allen's shares, as the Seahawks' and Sounders have now split business operations.
UPDATE: Joe Roth later clarified that he retained his shares in the team. It was also clarified that Hanauer now owns a plurality of ownership shares, not an actual majority.