The NBA’s board of governors conducted a vote Tuesday to formally approve Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore as minority shareholders in the Timberwolves, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Rodriguez and Lore reached an agreement with current Wolves owner Glen Taylor that will see the duo eventually take majority control of the franchise, but that won’t happen right away. The succession plan A-Rod and Lore negotiated with Taylor calls for the new owners to take the reins by the 2023-24 season.
Given that arrangement, the league’s board of governors only needed to approve Rodriguez and Lore as limited partners for the time being. Once it’s time for majority control to change hands in 2023, another vote will be required, and there’s no reason to believe the new owners won’t be approved at that time.
Rodriguez was a 14-time All-Star as an MLB player, winning three MVP awards in 2003, 2005 and 2007, along with a title in 2009. Since retiring from baseball in 2016, A-Rod has become an entrepreneur and media star. His investments include fitness gyms, coconut water, e-sports, Fanatics and a digital delivery service called goPuff.
Lore began his fortune with Quidsi, which sold to Amazon for $545M in 2021, and later founded Jet.com, which Walmart bought for $3.3 billion in 2016. He served as Walmart’s eCommerce chief from 2016-21 before stepping down from that position earlier this year.
Rodriguez and Lore are said to be equal partners in the purchase, which also includes the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
More must-reads: