Stephen Ross: Getting Fired Was The Best Motivation

**Stephen Ross in a nearly 10-year-old case involving a gift to the university** of Michigan

Stephen Ross is an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and sports team owner

“As a very young boy, my uncle taught me a valuable lesson, the importance of giving back and using your impact and influence to make the world a better place. Although I have generally conducted my philanthropic efforts privately, I hope through publicly committing to the Giving Pledge that I will inspire others to commit to significant philanthropy the way my uncle inspired me. I am delighted, grateful, and honored to join this important effort in the hope that collectively we can leave the world a little better place than we found it.”

Stephen Ross grew up in a middle-class family in Detroit, Michigan. Ever since my early childhood I had large ambitions and firmly believed in my abilities to achieve them. In short, I believed in the American Dream.

Through hard work and unrelenting persistence, he turned a ten-page business plan, created after being fired from a New York financial firm, into over a $15 billion business and one of the world’s most prominent real estate companies.

He has been incredibly fortunate to have achieved such success but he never lost sight of a lesson he learned as a young boy from his Uncle Max Fisher. Max, a devout philanthropist, taught him the impact and influence you can have in making the world a better place. His uncle taught him that with wealth comes responsibility. As a result, he has had the opportunity to give back in meaningful ways for decades and not just through charitable donations, but also through sharing his time and expertise to help organizations be even more impactful.

He is proud to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Guggenheim Foundation, Lincoln Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and the World Resources Institute. He was also thrilled to be able to give back to his Alma Mater, an institution that had a profound impact on his success, the University of Michigan, which has since been renamed the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Although he has generally conducted his philanthropic efforts privately, he hopes through publicly committing to the Giving Pledge that he will inspire others to commit to significant philanthropy the way his Uncle inspired him. He commits to give away the substantial majority of his assets to charitable causes and give back to the society from which his success was derived.

His efforts will continue to focus on the areas of education, the arts, healthcare, and the creation of more sustainable cities throughout the world. He has always believed that if our cities do well, we all do well. To that end he is working with the World Resources Institute, the world’s preeminent global environmental think tank, to create a visionary leadership foundation to assist cities around the world in creating new models of livability, opportunity, and business innovation.

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