After returning to Target Center last weekend for two games, the first time he had been in the building in months due to recovery from hip surgery, Glen Taylor let it be known on Wednesday that he would not be challenging an arbitrator’s ruling that said Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez were entitled to a 90-day extension of the purchase agreement to complete their acquisition of the teams.
It was the final step in a years-long process that Taylor tried to nullify in March 2024 when he argued the Lore and Rodriguez did not meet the terms of the agreement required to complete their $1.5 billion purchase. The matter ultimately went to arbitration, where a panel ruled 2-1 in favor of Lore and Rodriguez.
Taylor’s decision not to appeal the ruling opens the door for the NBA Board of Governors to approve Lore and Rodriguez as majority owners. It remains unclear how long that will take to play out, but the process is moving forward and bringing much-needed clarity at the top of the organization as the Timberwolves try to chase down a top-six seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Taylor’s run at the helm, which began in 1994, will soon come to an end. Lore and Rodriguez will be stepping in to shepherd the Wolves and Lynx into their next phases.
Next steps
Now that the road is clear, Lore and Rodriguez can go through the final approval process with the NBA. The league will vet the group’s finances and then bring them up for a vote from the board of governors.
Here is the irony of the situation: because Taylor did try to call off the deal and triggered an arbitration process that took almost a full year to complete, it gave Lore and Rodriguez even more time to fortify their position. The two partners used the time wisely, adding former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as a minority investor and setting aside $950 million in an escrow account to have at the ready to complete their purchase as soon as they could. That allayed any notion of them not having the money to complete the deal.
In the very early stages of their partnership with Taylor, there was discussion about him staying on as a limited partner after the transfer of control. Given the rancor that developed over the last 18 months, sources on the Lore/Rodriguez side said the plan is to buy out Taylor immediately and for their group, which also includes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt among other well-heeled investors, to have 100 percent of the team.
The exact timeline for a board of governors vote is not immediately known. Lore and Rodriguez need 23 of the 30 owners to vote yes on their group for approval. If ever there were thoughts about Taylor amassing enough support among his ownership brethren for a down vote, which would allow him to retain the team, NBA commissioner Adam Silver all but put those to rest when he spoke at All-Star Weekend in February.
“I think that A-Rod, certainly Marc Lore, are well-known to the league at this point,” Silver said. “They’ve already been vetted ...
