Dolphins’ Stephen Ross Becomes Second NFL Owner To Slam Zohran Mamdani And His Socialist Policies

At one point on Wednesday, Stephen Ross, who moved to New York City in 1968, founded the internationally known Related Companies in New York, became a billionaire in New York, and built significant portions of the city including Hudson Yards, insisted, “I’m not a New Yorker.”

And perhaps he was saying that because he was indeed born in Detroit.

And maybe he was saying that because he so dislikes what new mayor Zohran Mamdani is proposing to do with the country’s biggest city.

“New York can’t go through good times,” the Miami Dolphins owner predicted during a fireside chat of sorts with Bloomberg. “Because the ideals that he stands for are not good for business. It’s not good for, really, we’ve never seen it work anywhere. And so why should it work in New York with those type of ideas.”

Ross definitely is not a fan of Mamdani’s socialist policy proposals and closely likens them to policies that ruined San Francisco for a time and have caused hundreds of thousands of residents and many businesses to leave California.

“If everybody’s fears come to light [for New York], it could be a lot like what San Francisco went through with that type of government,” Ross said. “And that lasted four years. It did really great damage to San Francisco. Now, they’re fighting their way through it, but you don’t just turn around the city overnight with the kind of damage that’s been done there and how people feel about it.

“Doing business in California, there’s so many restrictions, it’s so difficult, there’s so much added costs. Corporations go where businesses can operate and make profits and government has the least amount of interference.

“Look at today they’re debating whether there’s going to be a billionaire tax. That’s frightened every person that’s there. That’s what California has become.”

Ross is the second NFL owner to openly show a distaste for Mamdani as mayor of New York. Shortly after Mamdani’s election, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft exclusively shared with Outkick and FOXNews digital his feelings on Mamdani.

Kraft pointed to Mamdani’s “divisiveness,” in a victory speech that certainly showed no grace for those who disagree with him.

While Ross was quite open about socialist Mamdani, he declined to speak on the current Dolphins coaching search that, amazingly, will not include John Harbaugh because the coach apparently has signaled he’s not interested in the Dolphins.

But Ross did divulge other factoids about the team.

Firstly, he said he had an opportunity to sell the team at some point and decided against it. That was apparently no small decision because Ross said he was offered a whopping $15 billion for what is believed to have included the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium and the F1 Miami Grand Prix.

Ross, whose capital was infused by a 10 percent sale of the team to the venture capital firm Ares Management, said he’ll eventually pass the team on to his daughters and son-in-law. 

“I’m fortunate,” Ross said. “I will keep it in the family, my son-in-law, who is involved in sports. He worked for me before marrying my daughter. He is terrific and he will run it. It will stay in the family.”

The Dolphins succession plan filed with the NFL reportedly would turn controlling interest of the Dolphins to Ross’s daughters Jennifer and Kim. And Kim is married to Sillman.

Sillman is the CEO of Relevant Sports, a Ross-owned company that specializes in global soccer media rights and event management. 

He has been involved to some degree in the Dolphins business for a time and is said to be part of the group that interviewed candidates for the vacant general manager position eventually filled by Jon-Eric Sullivan and the still open head coach job.

One more thing: Ross said he bought the Dolphins, in 2009, to bring the South Florida community together, provide entertainment and, of course, win football games, about the last of which he quipped, “haven’t done a good job of that.”

Yes, we know.