1Password Founders Sell $75 Million Stake to Utah Jazz Owner

Toronto-based cybersecurity firm 1Password has sold a $75 million secondary stake to a venture fund launched by Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and investor Ryan Sweeney, according to Bloomberg.

The sale forms the core of a broader $100 million secondary transaction in which founders and some long-time employees exchanged shares for cash.

The investment came through the Halo Fund, a growth vehicle co-founded by Smith (also known for owning the Utah Jazz and the NHL’s Utah Mammoth) and Sweeney (a partner at Accel). In joining the transaction, Halo injected the largest single commitment in the secondary round. Other backers included VC firms like Flume Ventures.

Despite the sale, 1Password’s valuation remained steady at $6.8 billion, consistent with its last primary financing round in 2022. The company says the deal gives its founders and key early contributors a chance to realize some liquidity, while not derailing its path to a future public listing.

1Password’s leadership emphasized that the transaction is structured to preserve momentum in product development, especially as it pivots toward securing AI-driven systems. The company recently unveiled features such as Agentic AI Security and Agentic Autofill, which help secure credential usage by AI agents in enterprise environments.

This move comes amid a broader trend: when public markets are sluggish, many tech firms are turning to secondary share sales as an alternative route to reward founders and early employees. For 1Password, an initial public offering is still on the horizon. Management has indicated that while earlier IPO plans were pushed from 2024, the company may pursue a listing in 2026 or later.

In addition to financial engineering, 2025 has been a year of organizational change at 1Password. The former CEO, Jeff Shiner, has transitioned into the role of executive chair, and new leadership has taken over the day-to-day operations.