Dolphins owner Steve Ross continues selling off pieces of his sports empire

Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross is selling more shares of his sports empire, reducing his ownership stake in South Florida’s NFL franchise for the third time in less than three years.

Read more National No Kings movement hosts South Florida events to promote early voting

According to the Sports Business Journal, Chilean billionaire financier Jean Eric Salata has a deal in place to buy 2.1% of the Dolphins, and its affiliated businesses from Ross, who has been the majority owner of the Dolphins, and the stadium since 2009, which is when he paid $1.1 billion to acquire the team and the stadium from Wayne H. Huizenga.

The deal with Salata reportedly includes pieces of Hard Rock Stadium, the F1 Hard Rock Miami Grand Prix, which brings an annual infusion of $1 billion into South Florida for one weekend according to a team source, and the organization’s interest in the Miami Open tennis tournament, which Hard Rock Stadium was retrofitted to host since 2019.

This is the latest in a series of equity sales from Ross, who in March sold 1% percent of Ross Sports & Entertainment (RSE), to Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin.

Ross also sold 10% to Ares Management and a combined 3% stake to Nets owner Joe Tsai and Nets minority owner Oliver Weisberg in December 2024.

Salata, 60, is chairman of the Swedish investment firm EQT AB, which in 2022 acquired the private equity firm he founded in Hong Kong, Baring Private Equity Asia. He is worth $8.4 billion, according to Forbes.

The sale is expected to be approved by NFL owners at their meeting next week in New York City. The league’s finance committee reportedly approved the transaction last month.

Ross, who turned 86 in May, has previously claimed he’s selling equity and using the liquidity to fund investment in South Florida real estate and philanthropy. His two daughters, Jennifer and Kimberly Ross are expected to inherit the franchise when he passes.

Read more Private schools cheer new federal scholarships. Can FL public schools also benefit?

“We’re keeping it in the family,” Ross told Bloomberg when he decided to change who succeeded him as team owner two years ago.

Daniel Sillman, who is married to Kimberly, has worked for Ross Sports & Entertainment (RSE) for years, and was named the CEO of RSE this August.

Sillman is also a Co-Founder and Executive Chairman for Revelent Sports Group (RSG), a media rights organization that is best known for representing commercial rights to European football leagues. Ross is also a founder and chairman of that group.

Over the past decade, Sillman has negotiated billions of dollars worth of media rights deals with Relevent Sports, including a $1.4 billion deal between LaLiga and ESPN and a $1.5 billion deal between UEFA and Paramount.

Sillman, who was the driving force behind the recent hiring of new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, has worked for Ross since 2014, serving as point man for a number of his sports and business projects.

Sillman worked for Ross before he married Kimberly.

Ross claims he had been offered close to $15 billion for RSE, which has been given a valuation of $10 billion to $13 billion, depending on the source of that estimate. However, at this time he has no interest in selling his majority stake in the franchise.

Read more A Miami land king says it’s time to ‘take downtown seriously’ — and he has plans

This story was originally published October 16, 2026 at 3:02 PM.