What is Stephen Ross's Net Worth?
Stephen Ross is a real estate developer, philanthropist, and sports team owner who has a net worth of $10 billion. Stephen Ross is the chairman and majority owner of the Related Companies, a firm known for developing the Deutsche Bank Center and Hudson Yards. Among his many other ventures, Ross owns the NFL's Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, and is a major benefactor of his alma mater the University of Michigan.
In 1972 Stephen borrowed $10,000 from his mother to allow him to quit his job and start a real estate advisement business. He quickly found success helping wealthy investors shelter income by developing federally subsidized affordable housing. That same year he launched The Related Companies to invest his own income into real estate. Today the company has offices around the globe and manages more than $15 billion in real estate assets. With 5,000 rental units, the Related Co is NYC's largest owner of luxury rentals. Since 2006, the luxury health club Equinox Fitness has been a subsidiary of The Related Companies. Stephen Ross sits on the board of Equinox. In 2012, Ross co-founded RSE ventures, a private equity firm focused on sports and entertainment. Today RSE has stakes in everything from Vayner Media to the Drone Racing League. Through his ventures also owns stakes in the following brands: Soul Cycle, Bluestone Lane coffee, &pizza, Momofuku, Milk Bar, Blink Fitness, Pure Yoga, the Miami Open, feminine product company Lola and more.
Early Life and Education
Stephen Ross was born on May 10, 1940 in Detroit, Michigan into a Jewish family. He attended Mumford High School in Detroit before moving to Florida, where he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School. Ross subsequently went to the University of Florida for two years before transferring to the University of Michigan back in his home state. From Michigan, he earned his BBA in 1962. Ross went on to earn a JD from Wayne State University in 1965 and then a Master of Laws in taxation from the New York University School of Law in 1966. His graduate studies were financed by a loan from his uncle Max Fisher, a businessman and philanthropist.
Career Beginnings
Ross started his career as a tax attorney at Coopers & Lybrand in Detroit. In 1968, he moved to New York City and became an assistant vice president in the real estate subsidiary of Laird. After that, Ross worked in the corporate finance department of Bear Stearns. However, he was fired in 1972 after butting heads with a superior. Without a job, Ross lived off of money lent to him by his mother. He began using his knowledge of federal tax law to organize deals for wealthy investors, and was so successful that he earned around $150,000 in his first year of doing this.
The Related Companies
In 1972, Ross founded the Related Companies, a real estate development firm. Originally, the firm specialized in housing, and built thousands of subsidized low- and moderate-income apartments throughout the United States. Ross expanded the company by the 1980s to focus on higher-profile projects. In the 1990s, he hired architect Robert A. M. Stern to design the Chatham on the corner of 65th Street and Third Avenue in New York. Related soon started developing such projects as Willets Point, an industrial yard near Citi Field in Queens, and the New York Coliseum, a convention center in Manhattan. Among the firm's most famous projects are the Deutsche Bank Center, a mixed-use building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan that opened in 2004; and Hudson Yards, a 28-acre development that began construction in 2012 and stands as the largest and most expensive real estate project in the country.
Headquartered in New York City, Related has expanded over the years to have offices and real estate developments in such other US cities as Boston, Washington, DC, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. It also has offices and real estate abroad in London and Abu Dhabi. With approximately 4,000 employees, Related has a real estate portfolio valued at over $60 billion, and is the largest owner of luxury residential rental properties in the country. In 2012, Ross became chairman of the company, and Jeff Blau became CEO. A couple years later, Related completed construction on the Abington House, a rental apartment property on Manhattan's High Line, as well as the Emerson, an affordable housing community for older adults. In 2017, the company completed the 690-unit Brickell Heights condo development in Miami, Florida. Later, in 2023, Related opened the 294-unit luxury rental condo the Row Fulton Market in Chicago.
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Miami Dolphins
In early 2008, Ross purchased 50% of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, as well as Dolphin Stadium and the surrounding land, from owner Wayne Huizenga. Early the next year, he closed on the purchase of an additional 45% of the team, making him the majority owner of both the Dolphins franchise and the stadium. Since his purchase of the Dolphins, Ross has brought in celebrities Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Tony Chesta, and Venus and Serena Williams as minority owners. In the summer of 2016, the Dolphins' home stadium was renamed Hard Rock Stadium after its naming rights were sold to Hard Rock Cafe.
In early 2022, Ross and the Dolphins were cited in a federal class-action lawsuit brought forth by former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. According to Flores, Ross had offered him a $100,000 bonus for every game he lost in the Dolphins' 2019 campaign. Following a six-month independent investigation, the NFL uncovered a different offense, finding that the Dolphins had violated the league's anti-tampering policy on three past occasions by having forbidden conversations with quarterback Tom Brady and New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. Consequently, the NFL stripped the Dolphins of their 2023 first-round draft pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick. Additionally, Ross was fined $1.5 million, suspended through October of 2022, and removed from all league committees indefinitely.
Other Holdings
Among his other holdings, Ross owns the Miami International Autodrome, a temporary circuit around Hard Rock Stadium. The circuit has exclusive rights to host the Miami Grand Prix through the 2032 season. Elsewhere, Ross co-founded the private investment firm RSE Ventures with Matt Higgins. The firm builds, owns, and operates various companies, including the sports media and events companies Thuzio and Relevant.
Philanthropy
Ross is a major benefactor to his alma mater the University of Michigan. In 2004, he donated $100 million to the school, and in 2013 donated $200 million to be distributed among the Ross School of Business and Michigan's athletic department. He has continued donating large sums to the university over the years. Elsewhere, Ross is a member of the boards of trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the Urban Land Institute. He also serves as a director of the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the World Resources Institute.
Politics
In 2012, Ross was a major contributor to the presidential campaign of Republican Mitt Romney. Later, he supported the campaign of Donald Trump.
Personal Life
From his first marriage, Ross has two children. He has two stepchildren from his second wife, Kara Gaffney, whom he divorced in 2021 after 18 years of marriage.
Ross resides in the Deutsche Bank Center in Manhattan that was created by his company. Additionally, he owns an 11,000-square-foot oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
