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The Minnesota Timberwolves minority investor Marc Stad has become its controlling owner. The new deal valued the Timberwolves and WNBA counterpart Minnesota Lynx at a combined $4.5 billion.
Stad joins Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, a former baseball player, as co-chairman. Rodriguez said that helping to build the Timberwolves and Lynx over the last few years had been “one of the great joys” of his career. Rodriguez had also increased his investment.
2021 initial purchase
Lore and Rodriguez bought into the two Minnesota teams in 2021. Five years ago, they were valued at $1.5bn. The pair signed an agreement to eventually take full control.
At that time, Minnesota had rarely been seen in the playoffs. They had not qualified for the previous three seasons, and in 2018 had lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets.
Stad has now bought most of Lore’s stake. According to ESPN sources, the transfer of ownership followed months of conversations. The deal will allow the existing leadership structure, headed by president Tim Connelly, to continue.
A joint statement from Stad, Rodriguez and Lore issued in August said that they were proud of the work completed so far, but they were only “just getting started”.
NBA Timberwolves 2026-27 season
Minnesota has had a major rebuilding this summer, in large part due to trading Naz Reid and bringing in LaMelo Ball and Josh Green, which necessitated shifting several more draft picks to Charlotte Hornets.
ESPN has argued that Ball and Anthony Edwards’ “superstar backcourt tandem” should make the team a must-watch. The franchise has essentially reversed its approach from last year when size was prioritized. Randle and Reid were given new contracts and Nickeil Alexander-Walker walked away as a free agent. This year, both Randle and Reid departed, Ayo Dosunmu was retained, and Ball joined at 6’7”.
Two months before the NBA 2026-27 regular season, many bookmakers considered the Timberwolves joint-sixth favorites for the Championship. Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs were likeliest winners.
Connelly, Wolves president of basketball operations, has shown fearlessness ever since 2022 when he sacrificed multiple draft picks to bring in a backline anchor. Then in 2024, he traded Karl-Anthony Towns partly for more flexibility in salary. Both decisions were criticized but worked out reasonably well.
Ben Golliver has argued that his latest trade is more difficult to comprehend. Ball signing means that Edwards has a better partner, but the changes at the frontcourt could mean the Wolves lose some of their physical identity.
Minnesota may have more hope for basketball success than soccer triumphs this year. After 21 MLS games this season, most soccer betting odds suggested that Minnesota United were 40/1 underdogs for the title. Inter Miami CF were favorites, followed by Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Nashville Soccer Club.
The Timberwolves have not yet made the NBA Finals, having lost their conference semifinals in the last two seasons after losing the conference finals in 2023-24. That was the first time the franchise had made that stage, having lost in the first round in the previous two campaigns. Before that, Minnesota endured a barren spell with only one playoffs appearance in 17 seasons.
Minnesota’s identity
That physical identity mentioned above may have to give way to a more perimeter-oriented style. The decision to trade Randle and Reid undeniably alters the balance of their roster. Randle brought strength and half-court shot creation and Reid’s shooting and versatility meant Minnesota had significant size while still having spacing. Losing both means the team is thinner in the frontcourt and there’s more responsibility on Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels to provide physicality.
Golliver suggested that Connelly’s appetite to go against conventional wisdom could come back to bite him. It has been a strength for Minnesota, and helped propel them to their best playoff record in decades, but it invites risk.
How Stad made his money
As Forbes recently reported, Stad was a little-known venture capitalist for years. The publication estimated that the 46-year-old has a net worth of over $5bn.
Much of that was earned through his majority ownership of Dragoneer, with the rest coming from the firm’s funds as well as Stad’s personal investments and real estate.
Stad grew up in Montebello, a Southern Californian city, and was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Harvard in 2001 and got his MBA and Stanford. He founded Dragoneer in 2021 after working at McKinsey & Co, TPG and the Investment Group of Santa Barbara.
The company has raised seven funds since that formation five years ago, with the latest – worth $4.3bn – focused on late-stage venture investing.
Charlie Campbell