Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore have an agreement in place to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves, a source with knowledge of the deal told Front Office Sports on Thursday.
The financial terms of the deal were not immediately known, although the deal that includes the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx is expected to be about $1.5 billion.
The deal requires the approval of NBA owners before its finalized. The NBA didn’t immediately provide comment when reached by Front Office Sports.
Lore, Walmart’s former e-commerce chief, and Rodriquez had an exclusive 30-day window to negotiate the purchase of the Timberwolves close without a deal earlier this week, ESPN reported. Both sides continued to negotiate the deal before they came to an agreement Thursday.
The franchise was put on the market on April 10 by owner Glen Taylor, a billionaire businessman and former politician. As part of the terms of any sale, Taylor is expected to operate the team through 2023 as Lore and Rodriguez move into their ownership role.
The 45-year old Rodriguez has dreamed about being a mogul since he was a kid.
He founded his A-Rod Corp. holding company in 1995. Its portfolio now spans more than 30 companies, ranging from venture capital to real estate.
While still an active player, Rodriguez started buying up apartment units in Florida and the Southeast. His company has bought over $1 billion worth of real estate and developed over 15 million square feet worth of space.
From his base in real estate, he invested in sports, wellness, media, technology and entertainment. Along the way, he’s been mentored financially by some of the biggest names in the business, including Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, NBA legend turned tycoon Magic Johnson and late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
Besides A-Rod Corp., he’s also the CEO of Slam Corp., a SPAC he started with Himanshu Gulati of Antara Capital.
He co-hosts The Corp. with Barstool Sports’ Dan “Big Cat” Katz, where they interview the likes of CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Stephanie McMahon of WWE and Howard Schultz of Starbucks. He managed to pull off working for two rival sports TV networks at the same time, calling “Sunday Night Baseball” for ESPN while working baseball studio coverage for Fox Sports.
During an interview with CNBC, Rodriguez said he’d rather be on the cover of Fortune than Sports Illustrated.
“I work so much harder at my business than I did at baseball because I don’t have the competitive advantage,” Rodriguez told anchor Becky Quick. “I am going up against really, really smart people with great teams.”
