and controlling owner Glen Taylor and minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are scheduled to go to arbitration this week as the fight for controlling ownership of the teams enters a new phase. The hearing is expected to last most of the week, and a decision is expected in December, Timberwolves sources told ESPN. The contract between the parties calls for a three-arbitrator panel (one selected by each side and a neutral arbitrator) to hear the case and decide, sources briefed on the process said.
The arbitration decision is binding, but the case to determine who will ultimately own the teams remains a complicated situation with a murky outlook. With the hearing set to begin Monday, here's the latest on where the case stands: What will the arbitration hearing decide? The issue is a deadline Taylor determined Lore and Rodriguez missed to close the deal in March. Lore and Rodriguez believe they'd satisfied the terms outlined in the sales agreement, affording them the option of additional time.
In 2021, Lore and Rodriguez agreed to buy the Wolves and Lynx from Taylor at a $1.5 billion valuation. At Taylor's request, the sale agreement set a schedule of three stages.
The first two happened in 2022 and then 2023, as Lore and Rodriguez purchased 36% for approximately $600 million in total. The deal called for them to pay an additional $600 million to control about 80% by the end of March. Taylor, who has owned the Wolves since 1994 (and the Lynx since their inception in 1999).
