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Former New York City Mayor and billionaire media mogul Michael Bloomberg has joined the investor group headed by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez that is seeking to acquire a majority stake in the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

The addition of Bloomberg, who built his fortune after co-founding his eponymous financial data company that has served Wall Street professionals for decades, is a major coup for Lore and Rodriguez, who are locked in a battle with current T-Wolves majority owner Glen Taylor over control over the team.

A spokesperson for Lore confirmed Bloomberg’s participation in the investment group.

A spokesperson for Bloomberg declined to comment.

Bloomberg’s involvement in the Lore-A-Rod bid to own the Wolves dates back to late last year, The Post has learned from sources familiar with the matter.

Public knowledge of Bloomberg’s investment puts pressure on Taylor, who is trying to stop the sale, and has signaled that A-Rod and Lore do not have enough money to build the team. 

If Lore and A-Rod succeed in wresting control of the T-Wolves from Taylor, Bloomberg will wind up with approximately a 10% ownership stake in the team, sources told The Post.

An arbitration court is expected to decide in August or September whether A-Rod and Lore can force a sale, sources said.

The Post has sought comment from the Timberwolves and Rodriguez.

News of Bloomberg’s involvement was first reported by The Athletic.

Bloomberg’s wealth, which is valued by Forbes at $106.2 billion as of Thursday, makes him the 13th richest person in the world.

Bloomberg’s addition allows Lore and Rodriguez to go forward with a final $300 million investment to buy out Taylor in the short term rather than waiting until the end of the basketball season next year, according to the report.

Bloomberg is reportedly set to kick in just a portion of the $300 million as most of the money will come from investors that Lore and A-Rod have already lined up, among them former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

The investment group headed by the Lore-Rodriguez tandem currently owns around 40% of the T-Wolves as well as the WNBA team, the Lynx.

In April 2021, Lore, the e-commerce mogul behind successful startups such as Diapers.com and Jet.com, teamed up with former Yankees great Rodriguez and reached an agreement with Taylor to purchase the Wolves for $1.5 billion.

The agreement was structured so that Lore and A-Rod would gradually acquire stakes in the team in a multi-step process over the span of a few years.

By last year, the two sides proceeded to the point where A-Rod and Lore amassed a 36% stake in the club.

The deal’s final stage called for the two to acquire an additional 40% stake by this past March — giving them majority control of the NBA franchise.

But Taylor, the 83-year-old businessman and former Minnesota state lawmaker, balked at selling the 40% stake — claiming that Lore and A-Rod did not line up adequate financing to complete the transaction.

Lore and A-Rod denied the claim, saying that Taylor got “seller’s remorse” after his T-Wolves surged to championship contention and likely saw its valuation soar in comparison to when he agreed to sell the club three years ago.

The Wolves’ valuation has surged to north of $3 billion, according to recent reports.

The team led by explosive superstar Anthony Edwards shocked basketball observers this year by reaching the Western Conference finals in the NBA — only to lose to the Dallas Mavericks.

In late March, The Post reported that Lore, who told the NBA he was worth around $4 billion, did not want to invest much of the $520 million that was needed for him and Rodriguez to increase their stake in the team to 80%.

Lore was willing to invest a relatively little amount of money, but wanted A-Rod, who had put in a lot less than Lore, to catch up in this new round of financing to a level much closer to what he had invested, sources with direct knowledge of the situation said.

Before Lore and A-Rod were set to plunk down $600 million for the additional 40% stake, they made a last-minute change in their financing of the payment — enlisting private equity firm Dyal Capital after the withdrawal of the Carlyle Group.

Lore and A-Rod insist that the financing is ready and that they have enough money to acquire the remaining 40% stake, which would buy out Taylor’s limited partners and leave him with 20% of the club.

The original agreement between the two sides allows Lore and A-Rod to acquire Taylor’s 20% stake anytime before March of next year.

Lore and A-Rod are reportedly making plans to map out a strategy for running the Wolves if, as they expect, the arbitrator will rule in their favor.

Their investor group plans to spend considerably to keep the team competitive, according to The Athletic, chiefly by paying the NBA’s luxury tax — a provision in the collective bargaining agreement that requires teams to fork over extra money if their payroll exceeds a threshold.

The Wolves’ collection of highly paid stars including Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert has inflated the payroll above the league-mandated salary cap — necessitating a luxury tax payment.

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Tesla looks to cheaper model as revenue suffers worst drop in over a decade

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Tesla looks to cheaper model as revenue suffers worst drop in over a decade

Tesla has started limited production on a cheaper model in a bid to boost sluggish demand after revealing its worst slump in quarterly sales for over a decade.

The electric carmaker, effectively run part-time by founder and CEO Elon Musk for much of this year after his now-defunct spell at the heart of Donald Trump’s government, reported a 12% drop in revenues over the second quarter of the year.

Its update showed a total of $22.5bn, despite aggressive discounting and low-cost financing put in place to help shield Tesla from many headwinds.

They include strong competition from cheaper electric vehicles and a backlash against Musk’s former political alignment with the president.

Sales and profits came in lower than analysts had predicted.

Tesla said it was looking to ramp up production of the more affordable model during the second half of this year.

It gave no further details but it is a nod to investor concerns that the appeal of Tesla’s range is restricted when compared to that of competitors.

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The results were the first for shareholders to digest since the so-called bromance between Mr Musk and Donald Trump ended acrimoniously in June.

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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk

Tesla’s shares remain almost 18% down over the year to date – lagging a recovery among rivals – and were flat in extended trading.

The drag can mainly be explained by the 2025 sales slowdown, Tesla’s particular exposure to the president’s trade war and the often violent backlash against Musk’s former role in the Trump administration which enacted big cuts to federal government spending.

Globally, customers have been put off by interference by Musk in national elections, particularly in Germany, and stiff competition from cheaper alternatives to Tesla’s electric car ranges.

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Tesla the target of protests around the world

While his departure from Washington allowed the tech tycoon to focus more on his vast business ventures, his beef with the president over the cost of the Big Beautiful tax and spending Bill has left Tesla exposed to retaliation from the White House.

Recent analysis by Sky News showed the extent to which the company’s profitability is threatened through the potential loss of billions of dollars in government subsidies – a sanction threatened by the president.

The latest set of results showed a steady income from these so-called regulatory credits, amounting to $435m between April and June. That was down from the $458m reported for the same period last year.

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Could Trump cost Tesla billions?.

Tesla had revealed earlier this month that production and deliveries covering the quarter were below expectations.

A total of 384,122 Teslas were delivered in the period, a 13.5% fall on the same period last year.

It marked the second consecutive quarterly sales decline and were not helped by the changeover to the refreshed Model Y.

Read more:
Tesla shares sink as Musk launches political party
Tesla deliveries miss target again

One other thing investors were eagerly awaiting news on was the supervised self-driving Robotaxi trial – launched last month in Texas.

Videos have since suggested some evident driving mistakes.

Musk has previously said the service would soon reach the San Francisco Bay Area, depending on regulatory approvals, and no update was given on whether papers had yet been filed.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Wednesday that the company was in talks about operating a Robotaxi service in Nevada.

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Technology

IBM shares drop despite earnings beat

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IBM shares drop despite earnings beat

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna appears at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 16, 2024.

Stefan Wermuth | Bloomberg | Getty Images

IBM shares fell as much as 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the tech conglomerate issued second-quarter results that topped Wall Street projections.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: $2.80 adjusted vs. $2.64 expected
  • Revenue: $16.98 billion vs. $16.59 billion

IBM’s revenue increased nearly 8% year over year in the quarter, according to a statement. Growth in the first quarter was below 1%. Net income, which includes costs related to acquisitions, rose to $2.19 billion, or $2.31 per share, from $1.83 billion, or $1.96 per share, a year ago.

Software revenue climbed about 10% to $7.39 billion, exceeding the $7.43 billion consensus among analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. Hybrid cloud revenue, including Red Hat, showed 16% growth. The software unit’s gross margin of 83.9% was barely narrower than StreetAccount’s 84.0% consensus.

Revenue from consulting rose almost 3% to $5.31 billion, higher than StreetAccount’s $5.16 billion consensus. Infrastructure revenue went up 14% to $4.14 billion, above the $3.75 billion StreetAccount average estimate.

During the quarter, IBM announced the next-generation z17 mainframe computer and the acquisition of data and artificial intelligence consulting firm Hakkoda.

IBM called for over $13.5 billion in 2025 free cash flow, similar to a projection from April. The company still sees at least 5% revenue growth at constant currency for the year.

As of Wednesday’s close, IBM shares were up 28% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index has gained around 8% in the same period.

Executives will discuss the results with analysts on a conference call starting at 5 p.m. ET.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

WATCH: Cramer’s Stop Trading: IBM

Cramer's Stop Trading: IBM

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Tesla (TSLA) releases Q2 2025 financing results: earnings down 23%

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Tesla (TSLA) releases Q2 2025 financing results: earnings down 23%

Tesla (TSLA) released its financial results and shareholders’ letter for the second quarter (Q2) 2025 after market close today.

We are updating this post with all the details from the financial results, shareholders’ letter, and the conference call later tonight. Refresh for the latest information.

Tesla Q2 2025 earnings expectations

As we reported in our Tesla Q2 2025 earnings preview yesterday, the Wall Street consensus for this quarter was $22.279 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.40 per share.

The expectations had been significantly downgraded over the last month, as analysts were surprised by Tesla’s announcement of much lower deliveries than expected in the first quarter.

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How did Tesla do compared to expectations?

Tesla Q2 2025 financial results

After the market closed today, Tesla released its financial results for the first quarter and confirmed that it delivered on expectations with earnings of $0.40 per share (non-GAAP), and it exceeded revenue expectations with $22.496 billion during the last quarter.

Tesla’s earnings per share are down 23% year-over-year amid a booming EV market.

Operating income decreased 42% year-over-year to now less than $1 billion, and almost half of it came from regulatory credits.

Tesla’s cash on hand has decreased this quarter for the first time in years. The company lost about $200 million of its giant war chest – now sitting at $36.8 billion.

We will be posting our follow-up posts here about the earnings and conference call to expand on the most important points (refresh the page to see the most recent posts):

Here’s Tesla’s Q2 2025 shareholder presentation in full:

Here’s Tesla’s conference call for the Q2 2025 results:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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