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Minnesota Timberwolves Ownership Awarded to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez
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- Minnesota Timberwolves Ownership Awarded to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez
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It's been nearly five years ( summer 2020 ) since longtime Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor put the Minnesota Timberwolves up for sale. It's been nearly four years ( spring 2021 ) since he agreed to a multistep sale to a group led by Diaper.com raised entrepreneur Marc Lore and his group of minority investors, which includes Alex Rodriguez as its main figurehead.
Since then, it's been a half-decade rollercoaster ride of payments made, payments pushed back and media vitriol. The entire situation imploded on itself in late March 2024 , three years after the agreement was originally inked.
Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
That's when Glen Taylor announced he was voiding the purchase agreement based on "the expiration of the option of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez to acquire controlling interest in the Timberwolves and Lynx." Immediately, Lore and A-Rod went on a media blitz painting Taylor as a fan owner with seller's regret.
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A day or two later, a report surfaced in the New York Post claiming A-Rod and Lore were struggling with money liquidity. Then in June 2024 , Lore added deep pocketed billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg to his group of investors.
Minnesota Timberwolves ownership awarded to…
On Monday evening though, after months of both sides making their case through lawyers and legal proceedings, we finally got real answers. According to Shams (ESPN) a three-pronged panel of arbitrators have ruled in favor of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, whose pending ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves will now go in front of the 30 NBA owners for an approval vote.
Just in: Arbitrators have ruled Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez over Glen Taylor as the next majority ownership group of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lore and Rodriguez told ESPN. The NBA's Board of Governors now have to approve Lore and Rodriguez. pic.twitter.com/qpF3BW3J7B
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 10, 2025
Given Lore's previously announced partnership with Dyal Capital — an NBA pre-approved investment firm that includes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt — adding the 10th richest person in the world ( Forbes ) mostly eliminated any financial concerns that remained surrounding Marc Lore as the majority buyer of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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In fact, Lore and A-Rod have told NBA insiders that the group has over $900 million sitting in an escrow account waiting, not just to complete their originally agreed to purchase of the franchise, but to also buy Glen Taylor out of his remaining shares.
Statement from Lore and Rodriguez as arbitrators rule in favor of them over Taylor to become the controlling Timberwolves owners: https://t.co/lceVytrj9i pic.twitter.com/eIgoMJcehe
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 10, 2025
The expectation from here, now that the arbitration ruling is in, is that Lore's purchase will be approved by the NBA, officially crowning him the new majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
