Stephen Ross, the 86-year-old owner of the Miami Dolphins, has agreed to sell 2.1% of the NFL team and its related sports businesses to Jean Eric Salata, the chairman of Swedish investment firm EQT AB, for about $262 million. The deal values the package at slightly more than $12.5 billion, a record for an NFL minority stake, according to Dealroom and to ran.de, citing Sports Business Journal. The league’s finance committee has approved it. NFL owners then approved the sale at their fall meeting in New York, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported on 21 October 2026.
For families, the method matters more than the price. Since 2024 Ross has sold, or agreed to sell, about 16% of the Dolphins in four sales at rising valuations, raising cash while keeping control. This post explains how that works and which league rules make it possible.
What Ross Is Selling, and to Whom
The stake covers more than the team. As earlier buyers did, Salata gets a share of the group Ross built around it: Hard Rock Stadium, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix held there, and the interest in the Miami Open tennis tournament.
Salata, 60, was born in Chile and built Baring Private Equity Asia in Hong Kong. EQT bought the firm in 2022. The reports name Salata himself as the buyer, not EQT. In NFL language he becomes a limited partner: a co-owner with a share of the value but no control.
Sports Business Journal research, as cited by ran.de, puts the average of public estimates of the Dolphins’ value at $10.59 billion. Control of the Seattle Seahawks sold in August for about $9.6 billion, according to Dealroom and ran.de. As ran.de notes, NFL minority stakes usually sell at a premium.
The Dolphins Stake Sales Since 2008
- 2008 to 2009. Ross bought 50% from Wayne Huizenga for about $550 million, then a further 45% in January 2009. CBS Sports and the Miami Herald put the total at $1.1 billion for 95% of the team and the stadium.
- December 2024. Owners approved sales of 10% to Ares Management funds and 3% to Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg, at an $8.1 billion valuation. The Miami Herald reported that they raised about $1.05 billion.
- March 2026. Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin bought 1% at $12.5 billion, about $125 million, with league approval, according to the Associated Press and Local10.
- October 2026. Salata agreed to buy 2.1% for about $262 million; owners approved the sale at their fall meeting in New York, according to Sports Illustrated.
By our arithmetic, that is about 16% sold for roughly $1.44 billion, more than Ross paid for 95%, leaving aside what he has invested since and any taxes. The valuation rose by about 54% in roughly 15 months.
These are secondary sales: Ross sells his own shares and keeps the cash. In a fresh issue such as Jio Platforms’ IPO, new shares bring money into the company instead.
The NFL Rules That Make Small Slices Work
The NFL decides who may own its teams; each sale needs the votes of three quarters of owners. Under the league’s ownership rules, as NFL.com summarised them when owners approved private equity investment in August 2024:
- the controlling owner must hold at least 30% of the team;
- a team can have no more than 25 owners in total, including individuals, families and funds;
- private equity funds may own at most 10% of a team in total, each with at least 3%, in no more than six teams, and must hold for at least six years, with no votes;
- sovereign wealth funds and pension funds cannot invest directly.
Ares’s 10% already fills the private equity cap, and the later slices went to individuals. Starting from 95%, Ross remains far above the 30% floor, by our arithmetic. The tighter limit is the 25-owner cap: every new partner takes a seat, which favours a few sizeable buyers. Families buy too: in October 2025 Julia Koch and her family bought 10% of the New York Giants, while the Mara and Tisch families kept control, according to the Associated Press.
Why Sell Slices Instead of the Whole Team
The first reason is control. A source told the Miami Herald in October 2025 that the team is not for sale, and the Herald reported that Ross had turned down a $10 billion offer.
The second is succession. In 2016 the NFL approved a plan giving Bruce Beal Jr., president of Ross’s property firm Related Companies, the first option to buy the team if Ross died or sold. In 2022, Sports Business Journal reported that Ross had told the league he wanted his daughter Jennifer Ross, already a part-owner, to succeed him instead. The Herald notes that Ross has never confirmed this publicly. Owners would have to approve any handover. Changing a plan is normal; having none is the classic mistake.
The third is cash and a price. Each slice brings money without giving up the asset, and sets a market price for the whole. An official who has worked on sports transactions told the Herald that the family could face US estate tax of more than $2.5 billion. How he uses the proceeds has not been disclosed. The result resembles a family limited partnership: one party keeps control, others hold value without votes.
A fair caveat
The owners’ approval and the price are known from press reports, not announced by the team or the league. Earlier figures come from different outlets, so our totals are approximate. A closed league decides who may buy, so its prices say little about an ordinary family business.
Five lessons to take away
- Sell slices, keep the wheel. A minority sale raises cash while control stays where it was.
- Let each sale set the price for the next. The Dolphins went from $8.1 billion to over $12.5 billion within two years.
- Know the rules of your club. The NFL’s 30% floor and 25-owner cap decide who can buy and how much.
- Choose partners, not just buyers. A limited partner stays for years, and every seat counts.
- Write the succession plan down, and update it. Ross’s plan changed between 2016 and 2022, and the league must approve whoever comes next.
Questions to bring to your advisors
If our family owns one large, scarce asset, could we sell small slices instead of all of it, and what would that do to our control and tax position? Who may buy in, and who decides? Who is our named successor, and who must approve that choice? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.
