After years of effort, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are on the verge of completing their acquisition of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This follows Glen Taylor’s decision not to appeal an arbitration panel’s ruling, which mandates the $1.5 billion sale. Magic Johnson wasted no time in congratulating Rodriguez and Lore on their successful business move.
“I’m excited about today’s announcement that my friend Alex Rodriguez and his partner Marc Lore became the sole owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves!” said Magic Johnson in a social media post in X (formerly Twitter).
As part of the agreement, Taylor chose not to challenge the February ruling by arbitrators, which favored Lore and Rodriguez in their dispute over the sale contract. The NBA has already begun the transfer process, which will eventually include a board of governors vote, according to sources.
Lore and Rodriguez first agreed to purchase the Timberwolves from Taylor in 2021 through a three-part sale. The first two tranches, totaling 36% of the team, transferred as planned for around $500 million. However, in March 2024, Taylor called off the sale, claiming that Lore and Rodriguez had breached the terms of the agreement and missed a deadline to finalize the deal.
A dispute arose, and the matter was eventually taken to arbitration, where Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez won in a split decision from a three-judge panel.
Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore acquiring the Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves co-minority owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore celebrate a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers after a play-in game at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
Meanwhile, they bolstered their group by securing new partners, including billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Google executive Eric Schmidt, and Blue Owl Capital, an NBA-approved alternative asset management firm. The group raised an additional $950 million, placing it in escrow to prove their commitment to completing the deal.
Related Minnesota Timberwolves NewsArticle continues below
In the past six weeks, the Lore-Rodriguez group and Taylor negotiated and reached an agreement to finalize the sale.
Taylor, who turns 84 later this month, grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm and made his fortune with a business specializing in printing wedding invitations. He acquired the Wolves in 1994 for $94 million, saving the team from a potential move to New Orleans.
Four years ago this month, Lore, the former Walmart e-commerce chief, and Rodriguez, the former MLB slugger who hit 696 home runs during 22 seasons with the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers, approached him with a proposal.
Over the last two decades, he repeatedly put the team on the market but ultimately decided to pull back each time.
The Timberwolves traded star Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks before the season but still carried the NBA’s second-highest payroll at $202 million. This was driven by Anthony Edwards’s five-year, $245 million extension and Rudy Gobert’s five-year, $200 million contract.
Minnesota stands at 44–32, ranked seventh in the Western Conference, and have secured a playoff spot. Neither the NBA nor the Timberwolves responded immediately to a request for comment.