MINNEAPOLIS — The newest controlling owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves is a private man by nature, a wunderkind investor who has quietly built a giant on the strength of smart bets in the tech world.
Now everyone will know the name of Marc Stada.
The Herd made the jump from being a limited partner in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx to the controlling owner after purchasing a majority interest from Marc Lore. The Timberwolves announced the deal on Friday, a surprising development given Lore’s well-known enthusiasm for running the Wolves and Lynx.
Lore returns as a limited partner in the ownership group, and Stad will team up with Alex Rodriguez as the new two-headed face of the franchise. Rodriguez is well-acquainted with the glory after his career as a Major League Baseball star, and he’s comfortable with the spotlight in such a high-profile position on a team that has developed into a Western Conference contender in recent seasons.
Stad, on the other hand, was virtually anonymous in the Wolves ownership group before this move. Over the past few years, Lore and Rodriguez have made it known that they have a list of heavyweight limited partners that has included former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But Stad’s name was never mentioned publicly.
Stad is the 47-year-old founder of San Francisco-based Dragoneer Investment Group, an investment firm with more than $35 billion in assets under management, according to its LinkedIn profile. The company specializes in technology investments, with notable ventures in OpenAI, Anthropic, DoorDash, Spotify and Airbnb, among many others.
Stad grew up just outside of Los Angeles in Montebello and was the first in his family to graduate from high school, according to an interview he did with Harvard. his alma mater. When he arrived in Cambridge, Mass., from California for his freshman year, he didn’t have enough money for a winter coat and had to apply to the school’s endowment fund created specifically for students who couldn’t afford warm clothes.
He graduated from Harvard in 2001 and later attended business school at Stanford University, where he is now a board member.
The herd appeared in the world of finance under mentorship of the late David Bonderman, founder of TPG Inc., and one of the original owners of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. On Bonderman’s advice, Studd moved to Hong Kong in 2010, and eventually the two secured an investment in Alibaba, a deal negotiated with Joe Tsai, who now owns the Brooklyn Nets.
Stad launched Dragoneer in 2012 and steadily built it into an investment giant. The firm has built a reputation in the investment world for backing breakthrough companies, including Uber, Waymo and Discord.
Stad and his wife Elisa have three children. Par donated $3 million for the launch Stad Center for Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland. The clinic is designed to treat children with acute and chronic pain, including pain caused by sickle cell anemia.
City donated 5 million dollars for Future Forward USA Action presidential super PAC in support of Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign.
Elisa will serve as a Timberwolves governor to allow the Herd to remain focused on the Dragoneer, but he will be heavily involved in all Wolves-related decisions, team sources said The Athletic on condition of anonymity because the couple has not spoken publicly about their leadership plans. Rodriguez will continue his role as Lynx governor while also serving as the most visible on-field presence in Minnesota for the ownership group.
The Timberwolves will have their fourth head coach since entering the league in 1989. Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson led the way when the NBA welcomed the Wolves as an expansion team. Harv and Marv sold to Glenn Taylor in 1994. Lore and Rodriguez joined the ownership group in 2021 and won a long-running dispute for full control of the team in 2025, and now Stadt is stepping into the lead role.
He has a close relationship with Rodriguez and Lore. Rodriguez will continue to play a prominent role in the ownership group, working side-by-side with the Herd on the day-to-day leadership of the Wolves and Lynx. Lore, meanwhile, will slide into a limited partner position as he focuses on bringing his food delivery and pickup business, Wonder, to the public.
