After months of uncertainty and legal wrangling, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx officially have new owners. Glen Taylor, who has owned the franchises for three decades, has finalized the long-awaited sale to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez for $1.5 billion, marking a major turning point for both the NBA and WNBA teams.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Taylor has agreed not to appeal the Minnesota arbitration ruling from February, which sided with Lore and Rodriguez in their contractual dispute. The decision clears the final hurdle for Lore and Rodriguez to assume 100% ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx, as originally agreed upon back in 2021.
The sale, which was structured in three phases, began when Lore and Rodriguez first purchased a minority stake in the team in 2021.
Over the next two years, they incrementally increased their stake to 36% for a total of approximately $500 million. However, in March 2024, Taylor abruptly called off the final stage of the deal, claiming Lore and Rodriguez had failed to meet a contractual deadline—setting off a legal standoff that ended with arbitration.
That ruling, coupled with pressure from the NBA and the buyer group’s readiness, forced Taylor’s hand. In the months since, Lore and Rodriguez bolstered their investment group, adding major backers like Michael Bloomberg, Eric Schmidt, and Blue Owl Capital, raising an additional $950 million and placing it in escrow to demonstrate financial readiness to complete the acquisition.
The NBA has now begun the formal transfer process, which includes approval by the league’s Board of Governors—a vote expected to be a formality.
For Glen Taylor, this sale marks the end of an era. The 83-year-old businessman purchased the Timberwolves in 1994 for just $94 million, a move that famously prevented the franchise from relocating to New Orleans.
Under Taylor’s ownership, the Wolves had moments of promise—including the Kevin Garnett MVP years and their 2004 Western Conference Finals run—but also endured years of underachievement and instability. However, in recent years, the team has returned to relevance, thanks in large part to the emergence of Anthony Edwards and a competitive core.
Lore, a tech entrepreneur, and Rodriguez, a former MLB superstar, now take full control at a time when the Timberwolves are enjoying one of their strongest seasons in recent memory. Sitting near the top of the Western Conference, the Wolves have legitimate championship aspirations—an exciting reality for a franchise that hasn’t reached such heights in decades.
The Lynx, a perennial WNBA powerhouse with four championships, are also poised for a new chapter under the new ownership duo. Lore and Rodriguez have made it clear they are committed to both franchises and want to build them into premier organizations across the sports landscape.
This sale is the second major NBA franchise transaction in recent weeks, following the record-breaking $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics, which reset the market for team valuations.
Though $1.5 billion may now seem like a bargain, Lore and Rodriguez have finally completed their journey—ending a dramatic and sometimes turbulent path to ownership. For Timberwolves and Lynx fans, a new era has officially begun.
