Marc Lore held majority control of the Minnesota Timberwolves for 14 months. He is selling at three times what he paid.
Lore agreed on Friday to sell his controlling stake in the Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx to Marc Stad, the founder of Dragoneer Investment Group, in a deal valuing the two franchises at $4.5bn. It is the fourth-largest sale in NBA history, trailing only the $6.1bn Boston Celtics sale in 2025 and the two Los Angeles Lakers transactions of the past 12 months, which valued that club first at $10bn and then, days before this agreement, at $12.5bn.
Lore and Alex Rodriguez bought the teams from Glen Taylor at a $1.5bn valuation in a deal first struck in 2021. Rodriguez is not leaving. He is buying more, increasing his equity and taking the title of co-chairman while remaining governor of the Lynx and alternate governor of the Timberwolves. Lore keeps a minority stake but steps back from day-to-day involvement to focus on taking Wonder, his food delivery company, public.
Tripling the money in five years
The path from $1.5bn to $4.5bn was not smooth. Taylor attempted to block the Lore-Rodriguez takeover, triggering a protracted arbitration fight that ran into last summer. The pair only assumed full control in June 2025 after the NBA Board of Governors approved the transfer. Fourteen months later, the controlling stake has changed hands again.
The escalation is not unique to Minnesota. Ten NBA franchises have sold in the past decade, and valuations have accelerated sharply since the league signed its 11-year, $77bn media rights package. Franchises that were once discretionary purchases for billionaires are now treated as scarce, appreciating assets with contractually guaranteed national revenue attached. Mat Ishbia’s $4bn purchase of the Phoenix Suns in 2023 looked extravagant at the time. Three years on, it would not make the top four.
The Lynx are a meaningful part of this valuation in a way that would have been unthinkable five years ago. Cheryl Reeve’s side sit 31-7, the best record in the WNBA, and have won 16 of their last 17 games. They are the first team in league history to reach 30 wins in three consecutive seasons, powered by Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride and rookie MVP candidate Olivia Miles. WNBA franchise values have risen steeply alongside expansion, and a title-contending team in a top-15 market is no longer a rounding error on a combined price.
Who is Marc Stad?
Stad founded Dragoneer Investment Group in 2012 and the firm now manages more than $35bn. He is not arriving cold: he was already a significant limited partner in both Minnesota franchises, and was an original minority shareholder in the NHL’s Seattle Kraken in 2018. His wife, Elisa Stad, who co-founded the Stad Center for Pediatric Pain at UCSF, will serve as Timberwolves governor.
In a joint statement, Stad, Rodriguez and Lore described the transaction as “an evolution of the partnership we have built together and strengthening of our commitment to our team and our culture,” pledging to build both clubs into the best organisations “in basketball on and off the floor.”
Rodriguez was more expansive. “One of the great joys I’ve had in my career is spending the last few years helping build the Timberwolves and Lynx with my friend and partner Marc Lore,” he said, adding that he “could not be more energized about this evolution and what we’re all going to do together for the Twin Cities.”
What it means on the floor — and where they play
Stad inherits a team in a genuine competitive window and an expensive one. Minnesota has made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons and advanced past the first round in each of the last three, reaching the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025 before going 49-33 last season and falling to San Antonio in six games in the semi-finals. The offseason acquisition of LaMelo Ball to pair with Anthony Edwards signals no intention to retrench. The Timberwolves project as a luxury tax team for a third straight year, and under the second-apron rules that is a decision an owner has to actively fund.
The larger question is the building. Target Center opened in 1990 and is now the second-oldest arena in the NBA behind Madison Square Garden. The current group has publicly pushed for a new venue, having spent $1.5m last year on theatre-style lighting as a stopgap. Stad has committed to keeping both teams in Minnesota and to continuing arena development — the reassurance small-market fanbases listen for whenever control changes hands twice in 14 months.
The Board of Governors is expected to vote on approval at its meeting on 15-16 September.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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