Stephen Ross

Lore & Background

Ross is a major benefactor of his alma mater, the University of Michigan; with lifetime contributions of $478 million to the university, he is the largest donor in the university's history. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, his higher education gifts rank behind only those of fellow American billionaire New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. The University of Michigan renamed its business school to the Ross School of Business in Ross's honor, in 2004, after he made a $100 million gift to fund a new business-school building.

The Stephen M. Ross Academic Center was completed in January 2006. In September 2013, Ross donated $200 million to the university ($100 million to the business school and $100 million to Michigan athletics), the largest single gift in the history of the university; the University of Michigan announced plans to rename the university's athletics campus in his honor. In 2020, Ross announced an additional $100 million donation to kickstart fundraising for the construction of the University of Michigan Detroit Center for Innovation.

Reader's Guide

In February 2008, Ross bought 50% of the Miami Dolphins franchise, Dolphin Stadium (now known as Hard Rock Stadium), and surrounding land from then-owner Wayne Huizenga for $550 million, with an agreement to later become the Dolphins' managing general partner. On January 20, 2009, Ross closed on the purchase of an additional 45% of the team from Huizenga. The total value of the deal was $1.1 billion. This means Ross is now the owner of 95% of both the franchise and the stadium.

Ross announced his intention to keep Bill Parcells as the director of football operations. Since buying the Dolphins, Ross has brought in Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams as minority owners of the team. In 2013, Roger Goodell made a pitch to the Florida legislature on Ross’ behalf in order to obtain multimillion-dollar public funding from the state to help renovate Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins' home field. The Dolphins wanted $3 million a year for the next 30 years, with Ross committed to funding 70% of the cost.

However, Florida lawmakers rejected the proposal, despite granting over $100 million in subsidies to The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Ross ended up spending $500 million out-of-pocket to refresh the stadium. On March 27, 2017, Ross cast the only 'no' vote in the NFL owners' 31–1 'yes' decision on the Oakland Raiders request for approval to move to Las Vegas starting in the 2020 season. Since 2019, the Miami Open has been hosted at the Hard Rock Stadium.

On February 1, 2022, Ross and the Dolphins, among other teams, were cited in a federal class-action lawsuit brought forth by his former head coach Brian Flores, alleging that Ross offered Flores a $100,000 bonus for every game he lost in the Dolphins’ 2019 campaign.

Did You Know?

• Ross earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1962, a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University in 1965, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from NYU School of Law in 1966.
• Ross began his career as a tax attorney at Coopers & Lybrand in Detroit.
• In 1972, Ross founded Related Companies after being fired from Bear Stearns, using a $10,000 loan from his mother.