Barring a late surprise at the NBA level, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore will be the next owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx.
Current owner Glen Taylor has agreed to end the legal battle over his sale of the team, according to someone with direct knowledge of the talks. After weeks of negotiations directly with the buyers, and more than a year of fighting via legal channels, Taylor agreed not to petition a federal court to vacate an arbitration ruling that said Rodriguez and Lore didn’t violate the terms of their original agreement as Taylor had claimed.
The move is the final hurdle before the NBA does its due diligence on the buyers and puts the sale up for approval by owners. Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this year that he didn’t see any reason why the buyers wouldn’t be approved.
Rodriguez and Lore owe Taylor about $942 million on the final two stages of their acquisition, which includes the control stake. That money has been sitting in escrow for months, and will be paid all at once. When it’s done, the Rodriguez/Lore group, which includes backing from billionaires Eric Schmidt and Mike Bloomberg, will own 100% of the teams.
It’s unclear what exactly was being negotiated between the two sides after the arbitration. Taylor will retain access to tickets and parking at the Timberwolves arena, the person said.
A rep for the buyers declined to comment. A rep for Taylor didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sale agreement, signed in 2021, allowed the buyers to purchase the team for a little more than $1.5 billion over four payments. The Timberwolves are now worth $3.29 billion, according to Sportico‘s NBA valuations, a number that includes the Lynx. The Lynx alone are worth $85 million, according to Sportico‘s WNBA valuations.
“We’re going to be the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Lore told Sportico in March 2024. “It’s just a matter of time, and how much pain Glen wants to put the fans, the players, the town and community through. It’s his choice. It didn’t have to be this way.”
ESPN was first to report the news.
(This article has been updated in the second paragraph to clarify that Taylor has agreed not to petition a federal court to vacate the arbitration ruling.)