Another NBA team has changed hands with shocking speed.
Marc Lore is selling his controlling stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx to billionaire investor Marc Stad in a deal that values the teams, together, at $4.5 billion.
Lore fully took over the franchises only in June 2025 after a protracted dispute over his own purchase of the team from Glen Taylor. The deal under which Lore and Rodriguez acquired the Timberwolves and Lynx valued the teams at $1.5 billion, showing just how much NBA team valuations have risen in a short period of time.
Lore, Stad, and minority owner Alex Rodriguez put out a statement confirming the deal after the news broke Friday morning. Stad, the founder of Dragoneer Investment Group, was already one of the biggest minority owners in the Timberwolves, a source familiar with the matter tells Front Office Sports. Rodriguez will not be selling his stake and in fact will be increasing his investment, the source says. Lore will retain a minority stake, the size of which was not disclosed.
The deal between Stad and Lore had been in the works for months, according to the source. The conversations started because Lore wants to focus on preparing an initial public offering for his food distribution company Wonder, the source tells FOS. Lore told Fortune in July he was planning a Wonder IPO.
Once the deal is completed, Stad’s wife, Elisa, will be the Timberwolves’ governor, while Rodriguez will remain as governor of the Lynx. Stad first bought into the Timberwolves as part of the deal that saw Rodriguez and Lore take over the team, and has been one of the largest LPs ever since, the source says.
“We have been working together for years with a shared goal of building the Timberwolves and Lynx into the best organization in basketball on and off the floor,” the three said in their joint statement. Lore will retain a non-controlling stake in the teams.
“Our priority is and always will be championships. Our new agreement, pending league approval, is an evolution of the partnership we have built together and strengthening of our commitment to our team and our culture. We will continue to work closely with Matt Caldwell, Tim Connelly, Chris Finch and Cheryl Reeve and want to thank the fans and entire Minnesota community for your continued support. While we’re proud of the great work we’ve done, there’s so much more to do and we’re just getting started.”
The deal represents the latest in a flurry of NBA change-of-control sales over the last couple of years.
Most recently, the Lakers stunned the basketball world with Mark Walter’s planned sale of the team to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation. Walter, whose deal to sell the Lakers comes as his business empire is being investigated for potential fraud, only agreed to buy the team at a then-record $10 billion valuation last June. Roughly one year ago, Tom Dundon reached a deal to buy the Trail Blazers at a valuation north of $4 billion, an agreement which came only a few months after Bill Chisholm purchased the Celtics at a then-record $6.1 billion valuation.
The Lynx currently have the WNBA’s best record at 30–7.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
