More than four years after the agreement was reached, the NBA approved Tuesday the $1.5 billion sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves from Glen Taylor to an investor group headed by former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce entrepreneur Marc Lore.
The league’s board of governors, which is made up of the 30 team owners, unanimously approved the ownership transfer that Taylor tried to stop the previous year. The four-time WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx are part of the deal, which is anticipated to conclude this week, over 51 months and more than 1,500 days after the original agreement.
Lore and Rodriguez will have their first press conference with the Timberwolves next month in Las Vegas, during the NBA summer league. According to the league, Lore will be the Timberwolves’ governor while Rodriguez will be their alternate governor. Both will be co-chairmen on the board. Lore will be the alternate governor for the Lynx, while Rodriguez will be the governor.
“We fully recognize the great responsibility that comes with serving as stewards of these exceptional franchises,” Lore stated in a statement. “We are committed to building an organization that sets the standard for excellence, is universally admired, and rooted in pride that spans generations.”
The close friends and business associates who spoke on a Zoom call during the pandemic have stated that they are determined to retain the teams in Minnesota.
“I’ve dedicated my entire life to the world of sports, not just as a game, but as a powerful force that unites people, uplifts communities, and changes lives,” Rodriguez said. “I’m incredibly honored and energized to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I know what it takes to be a champion, and I’m ready to bring that same commitment and drive to create a winning culture in Minnesota.”
Born on a dairy farm in Minnesota and making a fortune with a company that printed wedding invitations, Taylor, now 83, purchased the Timberwolves for roughly $88 million in 1994 to keep them from moving after the NBA rejected a deal between the original owners and a group in New Orleans.
When Lore and Rodriguez learned that Taylor was considering a sale, they focused on basketball after hedge fund investor Steve Cohen outbid them for the New York Mets. The agreement was organized in phases so that Taylor could continue to serve as a mentor of sorts.
Since that April 10, 2021, deal, the franchise’s worth has more than doubled, mostly as a result of the NBA’s soaring earnings. The Timberwolves are valued at $3.1 billion, according to Forbes. According to Sportico’s latest estimates, the club is worth $3.29 billion. They play in a midsized market in a 35-year-old venue and are ranked third-lowest in the league by both magazines.
The Lynx, who are in the bottom half of the league and are currently expanding to 16 teams by 2028, are worth between $230 million (according to Forbes) and $240 million (according to Sportico).
Because Lore and Rodriguez failed to buy a third of the club, which would have given their group an 80% ownership, Taylor declared on March 28, 2024, that he was exercising his right to withdraw from the sale.
The decision caught Lore and Rodriguez off guard, so they defended their moral character and accused Taylor of having seller’s remorse. They claimed to have filed their papers six days before the due date and attributed the payment delay to the league’s slow approval process.
A three-panel judge decided in favor of Lore and Rodriguez after the matter proceeded to mediation and arbitration. Instead of leaving Taylor with a 20% interest from the original arrangement, their group—which includes former Google executive Eric Schmidt and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg—has been prepared to buy out Taylor and his partners entirely.
Near the end of his 31st season as team manager, Taylor made the decision in April not to appeal the arbitration decision. The Timberwolves saved him for last, making it to the Western Conference finals for the second consecutive year before losing to Oklahoma City, the eventual NBA champion.
The Timberwolves have the lowest regular-season record of any of the league’s 30 current teams (1,196-1,680,.416 winning percentage), despite making the playoffs in each of Taylor’s last four seasons. They have a 39-55 playoff record and have been eliminated in the first round 10 times out of 13 times they qualified.
The print version of the Minnesota Star Tribune, which Taylor purchased in 2014, carried a farewell message from him and his wife, Becky, on Monday. It was also featured on the first page of the Timberwolves’ website.
“This marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in our lives — one filled with purpose, pride, and a deep connection. When we kept the Timberwolves from moving to New Orleans in 1994, we did so with the hope of building something that could unite people across Minnesota and beyond. And when we added the Lynx in 1998, it was driven by our belief in supporting women and fully embracing the diversity and promise of the WNBA,” the Taylors said, thanking their limited partners, the players, the staff, the community and the fans for their support.
“Though we are stepping away as owners, our love for this organization and this community remains as strong as ever. We will always be fans, cheering from our seats, celebrating your triumphs, and believing in what comes next. It has been the honor of our lives.”
Lore is the CEO of Wonder, a food delivery service based in New York, and Forbes estimates that she has a net worth of $2.9 billion. The retail behemoths Walmart and Amazon have previously purchased the e-commerce businesses he started.
Rodriguez, a 14-time All-Star who hit 696 home runs in his career but was not inducted into the Hall of Fame due to his acknowledged use of performance-enhancing substances, focused his business career on real estate development and investment. nearly his 22 years in the major leagues, he earned nearly $450 million in salary.
