The Man Who Will Take Over for Stephen Ross: Daniel Sillman
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, in a Bloomberg interview, laid out the succession plan for the Miami Dolphins, and that is to keep the team in the family and have his son-in-law, Daniel Silman, run the organization.
Ross said his son-in-law (Sillman), who is involved in sports and worked for him before marrying his daughter, will run the Miami Dolphins.
Ross said he has been offered close to $15 billion to sell the Dolphins, but he wants to keep it in the family with his two daughters and his son-in-law running the team.
Silman is the CEO of Relevant, a live Soccer events and media company that is known for marketing media rights for the biggest soccer leagues globally.
Sillman attended the University of Michigan, the same school as Stephen Ross, and in 2014, he was hired by Stephen Ross at RSE Venture, a private equity firm he owned.
Mr. Ross did say he knew Sillman before Sillman met and eventually married his daughter.
Per Sillman’s Wikipedia page, “In 2018, Sillman negotiated a 15-year joint venture deal on behalf of Relevent with La Liga to promote the Spanish league in North America. In 2021, he negotiated La Liga’s record-breaking $1.4 billion US media rights deal with ESPN.[14] Sillman also led the media rights negotiation and sale of La Liga’s rights in Mexico and Central America to Televisa Sky Sports in 2021 for approximately $600 million.”
Sillman’s background in sports is a positive for fans of the Dolphins, knowing he isn’t unfamiliar with the professional sports landscape, and he has been a part of the hiring process for the Dolphins’ new general manager and ongoing search for a head coach.
Stephen Ross says he’s been offered close to $15 BILLION for the Miami Dolphins.
His succession plan is to keep it in the family and have his son-in-law Daniel Sillman run it. pic.twitter.com/g2KMzrs4Kb
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) January 14, 2026
The more interesting part of Ross’s interview was his statement that he has been offered close to $15 billion to sell the Dolphins (along with Hard Rock Stadium and the F1 racetrack). That is a substantial number to turn down.
While Ross gave no time frame for when he plans to step down as the owner, or whether he plans to step down as the owner, it appears that he and the family have a plan in place for when that time comes.
