Who owns the Minnesota Twins? Tom Pohlad, explained

Tom Pohlad, 45, is the control person of the Minnesota Twins as of December 2025, succeeding his uncle Jim Pohlad after a family ownership transition. The Pohlad family has operated the club for 42 years, making them one of the three longest-tenured ownership groups in baseball. In late 2025, they brought in three limited partners—Craig Leipold (owner of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild), George G. Hicks (founder of Varde Partners), and Glick Family Investments—holding a combined stake of more than 20%, while remaining the principal owner.

🏟️ Ownership at a glance

Principal owner	Tom Pohlad
Controlling group	Pohlad Family
Current group since	1984
Purchase price	$44M
Latest valuation	$1.71B
Value multiple	38.9× the purchase price

Heads up: Recent change of command. In December 2025 the Pohlad family sold more than 20% of the club to three limited partners on a valuation of $1.75 billion, and Tom Pohlad succeeded his uncle Jim Pohlad at the head of the operation, subject to formal MLB approval.

Who is Tom Pohlad

Tom Pohlad is the great-great-grandson of the Pohlad founding line and grandson of Carl Pohlad, the man who bought the Twins in 1984. Carl Pohlad started during the Great Depression distributing laundry and sweeping floors across the Midwest before founding a banking and financial services firm in the 1950s. From there, he built an empire spanning banking, real estate, and Pepsi bottling operations. The family later diversified into film through Bill Pohlad and into PepsiAmericas through Bob Pohlad.

Tom assumed operational control in December 2025, displacing his younger brother Joe Pohlad, 43, who had served as president. In announcing the transition, Tom called it a deep honor to continue a legacy that has been part of his family and community for 40 years, while acknowledging the club had not won enough games and its financial health had been at risk.

How they bought the team

Carl Pohlad purchased the Minnesota Twins in 1984 for $44 million. The club remained under family control through the decades with no change in ownership until December 2025, when the Pohlad family brought in three limited partners—Leipold, Hicks, and Glick Family Investments—over a valuation of $1.75 billion. That transaction allowed the family to clear roughly $500 million in accumulated debt while retaining principal ownership.

The path to that restructuring was unusual: the family put the franchise up for sale in October 2024 but announced on August 13, 2025, that they would remain the principal owner after a process Joe Pohlad described as detailed and robust. The failed sale attempt created internal family tension and ultimately triggered the management change that elevated Tom over Joe.

Year	Buyer	Amount
1984	Carl Pohlad	$44M
2025	Craig Leipold, George G. Hicks and Glick Family Investments (more than 20% combined, as limited partners)	—

What else they own

The Pohlad family’s wealth extends across banking and financial services, real estate and development in Minneapolis, beverage bottling (PepsiAmericas, run by Bob Pohlad), automotive services, and film and entertainment through Bill Pohlad and River Road Entertainment. The Pohlad Family Foundation manages the family’s philanthropic giving. Among the new limited partners, Craig Leipold brings ownership of the Minnesota Wild, and George G. Hicks brings Varde Partners, an asset management firm.

The addition of Leipold creates a rare cross-ownership: two major Minnesota franchises now share a common investor. The Twins also operate a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic in partnership with the Philadelphia Phillies, sharing development facilities for Latin American talent, and field teams in the Dominican Summer League.

Where the games air

As of 2026, the Twins do not own a regional sports network. MLB Local Media produces and distributes games. In-market streaming is available through Twins.TV (roughly $20 per month or $100 per season), with cable and satellite distribution in the club’s territory and 10 free simultaneous broadcasts on FOX 9. This arrangement followed the collapse of the regional sports network model that previously carried games on Fox Sports North, Bally Sports North, and FanDuel Sports Network North under Diamond Sports.

Facts worth knowing

The most important fact: the Twins were NOT sold. They were put up for sale in October 2024 and on August 13, 2025 the family announced it would remain the principal owner following a process that Joe Pohlad described as detailed and robust.
The failed sale process generated tension within the Pohlad family itself, according to local reports, and ended with a generational transition: Tom displaced his brother Joe.
Instead of selling, the family placed more than 20% of the club among three limited partners on a valuation of $1.75 billion, an operation that served to erase approximately $500 million of accumulated debt.
One of the new partners is Craig Leipold, owner of the Minnesota Wild: two major Minnesota franchises became linked by the same investor.
The payroll cuts and sale of pieces at the 2025 trade deadline deadline unleashed a furious reaction from fans against the family, in the midst of the sale process limbo.
Carl Pohlad, the patriarch, started by distributing laundry and sweeping floors during the Great Depression before building a banking empire.
The Twins were, according to Forbes, the second largest percentage gainer on the entire list since the magazine began valuing teams in 1998: from $94 million to $1.71 billion, more than 1,700% appreciation.

Where they stand among the 30 owners

List	Rank
By franchise value	#23 de 30
By purchase price	#24 de 27
By years in charge	#3 de 30

Amounts are nominal and not adjusted for inflation: comparing a decades-old purchase price with today’s valuation overstates the real gain.

The Twins rank 23rd among the 30 MLB franchises by current valuation and 3rd in longevity under the same ownership group. The club has appreciated more than 1,700 percent since Carl Pohlad’s $44 million purchase in 1984, making it one of the two largest percentage gainers in Forbes’ valuation history. The recent restructuring—keeping the team in family hands while bringing in outside capital and a new operational leader—signals a reset after years of fan frustration over payroll cuts and playoff drought.