Stephen M. Ross is the CEO and Chairman of Related Ross, Founder and Chairman of Related Companies, Owner of the Miami Dolphins and devoted philanthropist. Mr. Ross formed Related Companies in 1972 and today the company has over $60 billion in real estate assets owned or under development, including mixed-use, residential, retail and office properties in premier high-barrier-to-entry markets. The company is also one of the largest owners and preservationists of affordable housing in the country. In 2024, Mr. Ross founded and became Chief Executive of Related Ross, already the largest commercial-property owner in downtown West Palm Beach focused on continued development and inclusive economic growth across South Florida. His philanthropic efforts have broadly focused on the areas of education, the arts, racial equality, healthcare and the creation of more sustainable cities throughout the world. Mr. Ross proudly serves on the Executive Committee as a trustee of Lincoln Center, as a trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and as a director on the boards of Cornell Tech, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the New York Stem Cell Foundation. Mr. Ross is a leader and former board member of the World Resources Institute (WRI) where he established WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. He is the largest single donor to the University of Michigan supporting the Ross School of Business. In 2013, Mr. Ross pledged to give more than half of his estate to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations through the Giving Pledge, a long-term global initiative created by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates that aims to inspire deeper engagement in philanthropy and increase charitable giving globally. Mr. Ross has received the National Building Museum Honor Award, the National Housing Conference’s Housing Person of the Year award as well as REBNY’s Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker Award. Mr. Ross graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, from Wayne State University Law School with a Juris Doctor degree and from New York University School of Law with a Master of Laws in Taxation. In 2011 the University of Michigan awarded Mr. Ross an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws.
