A Chilean financier buys in
Stephen Ross just did it again. The Dolphins owner sold a 2.1 percent stake in his team to Jean Eric Salata, a Chilean billionaire financier, in a deal that values the franchise at slightly more than $12.5 billion. Sports Business Journal broke the news on Friday.
The package is bigger than a slice of the team. Salata also gets interests in Hard Rock Stadium, the Hard Rock Miami Grand Prix and the organization’s stake in the Miami Open tennis tournament. Forbes puts his net worth at $8.4 billion.
Salata is 60, was born in Chile and grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania from the age of five. He studied at Penn, worked at Bain & Co. and then founded Baring Private Equity Asia in Hong Kong. EQT AB bought that firm in 2022, and Salata now chairs EQT.
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Another record, same number
The $12.5 billion figure matches the mark Ross set in March, when he sold 1 percent to Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin at that same valuation. That was the NFL record for a minority stake until now.
The climb has been quick. In December 2024, Ross sold 10 percent to Ares Management and a combined 3 percent to Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg at an $8.1 billion valuation. Less than two years later, the price is up roughly 55 percent.
A gap sits underneath the headline, though. Sports Business Journal research estimates the standalone enterprise value of the Dolphins at $10.59 billion, based on an average of public valuations. The stadium, the Grand Prix and the Miami Open are what push the deal figure above that.
What happens next
The NFL finance committee approved the sale last month. Owners are expected to give formal approval at their meeting in New York next week, which would close the process.
For Ross, it is one more outside investor in a franchise that already counts Ares Management, Joe Tsai, Oliver Weisberg and Lin Bin among its minority owners. The price keeps rising, whatever the stadium or the Dolphins’ season is doing.
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