With an agreement in place to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves — plus a new venture capital firm and a $500 million SPAC — Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are on a major roll.
The deal for the Timberwolves — first reported by Front Office Sports on Thursday — also includes the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and is expected to be about $1.5 billion. It will require the approval of NBA owners before it’s finalized.
The former New York Yankees star and Lore, the former e-commerce chief at Walmart, also made headlines Wednesday when they formed their own venture capital firm, Vision/Capital/People, or VCP.
VCP is launching with $50 million in funds from the duo. It could reportedly raise an additional $300 million to $500 million.
“If you have a big idea, you don’t want to start with a couple hundred grand,” Lore told CNBC.
Together, Rodriguez and Lore have made some notable moves in the last six months:
- Successfully raised $500 million for their Slam Corp. SPAC, which intends to pursue business in sports, media, entertainment, health and wellness, and tech.
- Backed an air-taxi company called Archer Aviation.
- A-Rod joined the $650 million hospitality fund CGI Merchant Group to invest in hotels.
Rodriguez founded the A-Rod Corp. holding company in 1995. Its portfolio includes more than 30 companies and over $1 billion worth of real estate.
Lore’s e-commerce site, Jet.com, was acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion in 2016. When he announced his departure from the retailer back in January, he correctly predicted: “I’m going to probably buy a sports team.”
