Yahoo Finance is bringing you more great

interviews from Can. A-Rod Corp chairman

and CEO Alex Rodriguez sat down with

executive editor Brian Sozzi. They

talked about his transition from

baseball to business.

>> I grew up

watching you um every day on my

television screen. And it's so awesome

to see your transformation now to a a

business person. I don't think it

started after your career. Talk to me

when that that passion to be an investor

and entrepreneur started.

>> Yeah, Brian, to me it goes back all the

way to my childhood when, you know, born

in New York, Washington Heights, shadows

of Yankee Stadium.

My father leaves my family, my mom and

my two siblings. At the age of 10, 12, I

see my mom collect food stamps. And uh

17, I'm the first pick in the draft. But

it was around 9 or 10 years old that I

remember sitting in New York City with

my parents saying I wanted to do the two

B's, baseball and business. So my

ambition always goes back to,

you know, doing what I love and that's

the two B's.

>> What were there some of your early

learnings as you put your

investment dollars to work? What did you

learn and what did you learn the hard

way?

>> I think that the the big I think the

thing that I did right was I went very,

very slow. I started over 25 years ago

in my early 20s. I bought my first

duplex for 250,000. And then I bought a

fourplex. And then I sold that for

double and I sold an eightplex. So I

went really slow and methodical. And

what I learned, I took the great lessons

from George Steinbrenner. He talked

about VCP, vision, capital, people. And

if you have the vision, if you have the

capital to deploy to that vision, and

then the hardest part is always the P,

the people part. If you have the best

people in the world, then you have great

alignment, you have an opportunity to

scale businesses. And I think that's

what I did so well. In '08, um

you know, we had a couple uh

mortgage in the real estate that went

under. Uh we were able to um

pay a nice fee,

get the bank to write down those

mortgages. And then 5 years later, we

had a big exit and we partnered with the

with the bank and those banks are still

our partners today. So those are the

kind of things that the highs and the

lows, but it's taking almost 25 years to

get here.

>> I I grew up reading the back pages of

the sports section about George

Steinbrenner. He demanded excellence and

if you didn't get excellence, your ass

was getting kicked out.

>> What did you learn from him about

leadership in business after all of

these years of really getting direct

access to him?

>> That, you know, winning is the most

important thing and that means winning

in culture, winning with the fans,

winning in media, winning on the field,

the way you dress, no long hair, no no

no beards. He was the ultimate general,

right? And

he expected the most, but he also

spoiled us. We flew in the best planes,

the best hotels and he never took any

any shortcuts.

And that's what I learned from him is

compromise nothing, win at all cost.

>> How did you know when to move from

investing in real estate? I go to your

webpage and you're invested in you have

stakes in like tech companies. I saw

OpenAI on the page for example.

>> Yeah, well A-Rod Corp is basically

a boutique family office you would say.

Uh

private equity and where we do real

estate where we've done a couple billion

dollars of real estate. This we do three

things, real estate, sports and venture

investing and private equity. And uh

real estate's our legacy business.

Obviously sports we have the

Timberwolves and the Lynx where I'm the

co-chairman with my partner Mark Lore

and then on the venture side we've

had positions in about 50 companies. We

take about half a dozen of those public

and uh yeah, we kind of sit in sit in

the weeds and uh make investments, find

great founders, help them out with

capital, with strategy, with hiring and

then get out of the way.

>> What do you look for in a founder?

>> I look someone like Derek Jeter, right?

Someone who's a winner, someone who's

coachable, someone who is ambitious,

um

that has a big big vision, incredible

work ethic, but someone who's humble

enough that's also able to listen to a

great team around them.

>> What's your investment thesis right now

as you look to put money to work?

>> I think um things are very expensive

right now. So, we're kind of um

you know, I sold a lot of the market

publicly. Um

I think there'll be another opportunity

soon. I'm I'm bullish on what this year

is going to end like. I think it'll be

rocky over the next two or three months

as things settle all over the world,

geopolitics, and uh interest rates, and

private credit. There's a lot of noise

going on. There's a lot of noise around

sports, but sports is not correlated to

the market. So, we continue to invest

heavily in sports. Um and then let

things settle a little bit

uh on the private side.

>> What a rate hike? Like that's now. I'm

trying not to like really get bogged

down in the weeds of the market. I want

to talk sports with you, but with a rate

hike, that's the talk in the market

right now. Would that really

change how your business model works

over the next year?

>> Not really, cuz we don't look at things

for 6 months or a year. When we think

about the Timberwolves, we think about

owning them for 50 years, right? When we

have a real estate, we can stay on there

for 15, 20, 25 years. So, whatever

happens short-term uh doesn't really

worry us.

But prices changes, right? And

opportunities change. And with those

opportunities, spikes, or if it goes the

other way, there's opportunities on both

ends. And we're fairly liquid, and we

can go in and buy when others have to

sell.

>> On the the Timberwolves, it wasn't easy

to get that team. Uh what did you learn

from that process?

>> Well, I mean, we had a great law firm in

Wachtell. They did a phenomenal job for

us.

Um you know, in these deals, you have

to, you know, cross your t's, dot your

i's.

But we're thrilled with the market of

Minnesota, with our two teams, both the

Wolves and the Lynx. Lynx are in in

first place now, doing very well. Um and

uh the last 3 years we've come out top

four, top four with the Wolves, top six

this year. Obviously lost to a great

great team in San Antonio with with

Victor Wembanyama, who's an amazing

player. And obviously the NBA at an

all-time probably 28-year high uh when

it comes to ratings.

Uh 15 billion impressions on social

media. Uh average um

viewing was about 22 million.

And uh

the peak was 33 million, which is like

NFL numbers. And the New York story uh

was just phenomenal.

>> What is it like working with Marc Lore?

I I told you off camera, I've known Marc

going back to his Jet.com days. He

reinvented Walmart's e-commerce

business. I think he's one of the most

underrated entrepreneurs of the past

decade. What have you pulled out of his

brain?

>> Well, not a lot because the brain is so

big and it has so much information

there.

>> Oh, man, he's going to love that. I got

to send him that clip right there.

>> Look, Marc is a most ethical guy. He's

the smartest guy that I've ever met.

He's like my brother. I've learned so

much from him. And we have complimentary

set of skills

uh and and we work really really well

together.

>> I recently had a conversation with uh

Denny Hamlin and he of course he owns uh

23 Racing

uh with Michael Jordan.

And what is it about you guys? It's the

greatest of all times. I see what

Michael Jordan has done with uh his

racing team and the wisdom he has

imparted on Denny and his team. I see

what you're doing the winning ways with

the Timberwolves. Like what is it about

you guys and what do you what do you

bring to the team that makes them

winners?

>> Well, I think Magic and Michael Jordan

for two are two of my great mentors,

friends, and people I've looked up to

and studied for many years. And they

have the greatness, but they also have

the humility. Just because they reached

the pinnacle in the NBA and reached what

we call the penthouse, that doesn't mean

that they're going to think they're

going to get an entitled ticket to the

penthouse in business. They started at

the bottom and they've worked themselves

all the way up. You know, Magic with

Starbucks and AMC Theaters, uh Michael

with his mom and the Nike deal, which

was so famous on air. And over time

they've built these conglomerates,

right? So, I think you have to have the

humility, the work ethic, and then with

experience, just like a good hitter

makes, you know, adjustments from not,

you know, chasing bad pitches, the same

thing goes in business. The more the

more you see, the more experience, the

more at bats, the more pattern

recognition, which then enables you to

make more sound decisions.

>> I I had CC Sabathia down here, your your

former teammate, and I told him I'm

going to tell you the same thing I told

him. It looks like I'm keeping you both

from games. You guys are in great shape

still. Like it feels like you should be

out there for Do you feel like you could

still play? Like

>> Sometimes. Yeah, I I think CC will tell

you the same thing. We can play a couple

of days a week. We just can't play 7

days a week cuz the grind is what gets

you, right? But, um you know, on any

given Sunday, I think we can give it a

go.

>> What's next for you in your Do you have

that one more big prized investment,

like another sports team that you want

to take a swing at?

>> You know, I think you wake up every day

um with a good attitude, and you build

really good relationships out there.

You're gentleman everywhere you go.

There's a halo you leave everywhere

behind. And I find that people want to

do business at the highest level or the

lowest level with people you like and

trust. And if you can develop that, um

that's one of the reasons why Mark

Laurie is so successful and some of my

partners with the Timberwolves. But, the

ultimate goal right now is to win a

title uh for both teams.

>> Uh well, the Knicks I mean, our in

hometown New York, I mean, you're no

stranger to the Knicks. Like, what

what

worked for them, and what can you pull

from that experience with the Knicks and

apply to your team, if anything?

>> Yeah, I I think Jim Dolan got too much

of a bad rap. I think he's he's a great

guy. Um I sit next to him in the board

meetings. He's always been fantastic

with me. He loves the Knicks. He loves

New York.

Um and I'm glad that he's getting his

flowers cuz it starts with him, right?

He hired Leon and Worldwide Wes to be

his one and two. And then they made

moves that were just incredible.

And when the Knicks or the Yankees or

the Lakers, when they win, it lifts the

league to a level that we couldn't even

imagine. I mean, the numbers that we're

seeing in the NBA, the interest that

we're seeing in Europe, domestically

with our two team it is just been fun to

watch, and

you know, New York is a city that is not

easily impressed

or amused. And they were both in this

case. And when you see the block

parties, it felt like we were around in

the 1930s, but it felt like if the

Brooklyn Dodgers won or something,

that's how it would look, you know, or

or or the Yankees or whatever. So, yeah,

it's it's pretty good.

>> What gets your team to break through?

Your team is rocking right now. Had some

several good seasons. What gets them to

that next level? Is it more It's more

than just a player, right?

>> Yeah, it's always more than just the

players, right? It has to be a buy-in

from ownership all the way down to, you

know, the great men and women that work

on on the arena who are our partners as

well, right? It has to be an all-in,

everyone checks their ego at the door.

In '09 when we won the title, we were

the most talented team in the game, but

it all came to fruition because everyone

checked their ego at the door. It was

we, not I. So, if you look at the Knicks

and you go back 3-4 months, they looked

like a pedestrian team. Something

happened with Coach Brown, something

spun the wheels and said, "Okay, we go

from good to elite, not great." They

they skipped the great, they went to

great and went to elite. And the run

that they had is one of the most

impressive runs I've seen in all of

sports in the last 30-40 years. So, it

can turn in a dime if you have the right

leadership and the right personnel in

that locker room.

>> As one of the the greats of the game to

the commoner such as myself, what are we

witnessing here with Shohei Ohtani?

>> I think a lot with what you're seeing

with Wembanyama, right? It's two unique

unique players that we've never seen

before. And they're

is eerily how

common you can compare them, right?

A guy that's 7'5" who can dribble like a

guard and shoot like a shooting guard,

and then Ohtani who is both Roger

Clemens and Barry Bonds, right?

Babe Ruth and Nolan Ryan. I mean, you

just can't even imagine that. And he's

also the fastest guy on the team, and

he's also hits the ball further than

anyone on the team. And it's like, "What

else can this guy do, right?" And he's

also a great human being. So, when you

see leagues having great players and

those great players, you double down and

you put them on great franchises, the

league really triumphs and you're seeing

that with both leagues, the MLB and NBA.

>> MLB has had amazing momentum. I mean,

the pitch count, how they're using

relievers, the viewership is back, the

marketing is working. Like, how

how tough it'd be to see a strike next

year?

>> You don't even want to think about a

strike because again, since I've left

the game now, it's been about 10 years

and this is by far the height and the

pinnacle the game has been in 10 years,

maybe 20 years. And with all the great

adjustments that Commissioner Manfred

has made, and now they have to find a

way to how do you make everybody a

little bit more money, especially

players that are at the bottom? You

never want to see a league where 80% of

the revenue goes to 10% of the players,

right? If you have a union, you want it

to be a little bit more democratic and

where everyone gets a piece, you know?

Um

I like raising the floor, and then

whatever the complicated things was

going to happen at the top, but they

have really smart people. There's too

much momentum, and you do not want to

crush this momentum.

>> I mean, as someone now making big deals

uh in the world of business, are both

sides so dug in that we realistically

may not have a season next year?

>> Well, the problem is yes, the answer is

yes. They're both dug in more than ever

before. This will be This season will

have more consequences than any season

we've had over the past century. In '94,

we walked off the field, but remember,

back then we didn't have Netflix, Amazon

Prime, you know, Apple TV, Yahoo Sports,

you know, we did have Yahoo, but not

>> Thank you for the shout-out.

>> Yeah, of course. So,

that that's why I think if you end up

leaving, I think both ends end up with a

worse deal than they left it at. Because

the question is, how many fans are going

to come back? And I just don't think you

can take it for granted that they're all

going to come back.

>> Sure.