REPORT: Stephen Ross Offered $10 Billion for Controlling Interest in the Dolphins

While not confirmed, it is expected that the offer came from Ken Griffin, a billionaire and hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and investor. Last year, Stephen Ross was in talks to sell a minority interest in the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, and the F1 Miami Race to Griffin.

That bid failed to buy a minority interest, but it raised the overall value of the Dolphins to over $7.5 billion. Now it is expected that the value of the team is upwards of $10 billion with this latest offer received.

From the USA Today report, “SportsCorp Ltd. founder Marc Ganis, a longtime consultant who has worked closely with NFL teams and other sports franchises, said the Dolphins’ stadium overhaul is “one of the great sports business success stories of the last decade.”

“I put the Dolphins’ entire operation, not just the team, in the Top 5 in the NFL,” Ganis said. “It’s the transformation of the entire operation to arguably the most successful, diversified, regional sports entertainment operation in the country – and by the way, let me just say – and globally in the world.”

It has been reported by John Ourand of PUCK that Stephen Ross plans to leave the team to his daughter Jennifer Ross.

For those who are unaware of who Ken Griffin is, here is a little background on him from the Citidal Securities website (Citadel Securities is the Hedge Fund Company he owns).

Kenneth C. Griffin is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Citadel, one of the world’s leading alternative investment firms. Intrigued by finance, Ken began investing in 1986 as a freshman at Harvard. Four years later, he founded Citadel, driven by a focus on the combination of exceptional talent, advanced predictive analytics, and powerful software engineering. Today, the Citadel team of over 2,500 professionals is globally recognized as a market leader, investing on behalf of the world’s preeminent research institutions, universities, and healthcare organizations, with the mission of delivering superior long-term returns.

In 2002, Ken and his partners established Citadel Securities, now one of the leading global market makers. Serving more than 1,600 clients, including many of the largest sovereign wealth funds and central banks, Citadel Securities has delivered enormous benefits to investors around the world. Over the past two decades, through its trading, research, and technology, Citadel Securities has created more transparent, resilient, and competitive markets both in the U.S. and abroad. Ken is Non-Executive Chairman of Citadel Securities.

A passionate philanthropist, Ken is committed to strengthening humanity’s future by supporting initiatives that advance breakthroughs in science and medicine, and expand access and opportunity in education. His catalytic giving empowers students across our country to succeed and enables people to live longer and healthier lives.

Most recently, during the COVID-19 crisis, Ken took immediate action and mobilized partners across government, business, and healthcare to fund critical research. He played a key role in helping to safely return hundreds of Americans from Wuhan, China. Additionally, Ken’s thought leadership was instrumental in architecting Operation Warp Speed’s accelerated vaccine development strategies, which ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

As the pandemic engulfed America and schools were closing their doors, Ken enabled students to continue their learning by playing a leadership role in providing free high-speed broadband access to 400,000 low-income homes across Chicago and Miami. Championing his belief that a high-quality education is the on-ramp to the American Dream, Ken has funded transformative undergraduate scholarships to equip thousands of low-income and first-generation students with the skills and tools needed to succeed.

More on this story as it develops

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