Stephen Hobart Muss (August 4, 1928 – August 23, 2025) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist known for leading the resurgence and redevelopment of Miami Beach, Florida.
Early life and education Stephen Hobart Muss was born to a Jewish family on August 4, 1928, in New York City,South Florida Business Journal: "Born to build - Muss, Soffer progeny develop joint project : Fontainebleau II" by Stephen Van Drake March 11, 2002We Are Many: Reflections On American Jewish History And Identity By Edward S Shapiro retrieved April 13, 2013 and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.Fool's Paradise: Players, Poseurs, and the Culture of Excess in South Beach By Steven Gaines pages 100 -110 His father, Alexander, was one of eleven children, six of them brothers who worked for their father's construction company building homes during and after the Great Depression. Muss was educated at Erasmus Hall High School. He worked for the family business first as a laborer and then in sales and construction supervision.
Career Muss eventually went into a partnership with his father, founding Alexander Muss & Sons and developing 30 acres of tract homes on Long Island. From 1952 through 1968, they went on to develop over 20 subdivisions with about 20,000 houses in the New York City borough of Queens, in New Jersey, and on Long Island; they also built over 4,000 multifamily units.New York Times: "Perspectives: Brighton Beach; Revising (Again) a Plan for the Baths Site" By ALAN S. OSER May 17, 1992 In the 1950s, his family moved to Florida where his father, now a multi-millionaire, built the Seacoast Towers in Miami Beach, known for the distinctive MiMO architectural style, the Towers of Key Biscayne, and the Towers of Quayside. In 1967, Stephen took over the Florida business, now named the Muss Organization, becoming Miami Beach's single largest landlord.
In 1978, Muss bought the largest hotel in Miami-Dade County, the aging Fontainebleau Hotel), for $27 million, rescuing it from bankruptcy. He injected an additional $100 million into the hotel for improvements and hired the Hilton company to manage it. In 2005, the Muss Organization sold the Fontainebleau to Donald Soffer's Turnberry AssociatesSun-Sentinel: "Turnberry Buys Fontainebleau - $150 Million Targeted For Upgrades" by Tom Stieghorst January 21, 2005 for $165 million.
Muss was instrumental in getting Miami Beach to implement a 3% "bed" tax to rebuild the city's aging infrastructure, including refurbishing and expanding its convention center.The Miami News: "Convention Center's Name Stirs a Debate" by Merwin Sigale June 15, 1988 He was the president of the Miami Beach Redevelopment Agency.The Miami News: "Can't Shoot Down Steve Muss with Blanks" by Howard Kleinberg October 31, 1979 In 1994, he sold the Seacoast Towers for $94 million.
Philanthropy Muss was the chairman of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel and honorary chairman of the Lapid Coalition for High School Age Programs in Israel. Muss served as Board Chair of Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach and also served on the board of the Miami Art Museum and on the Board of Governors of Haifa University.
Personal life and death Muss had three children with Carol Matelson, in a marriage that ended in divorce; he also had two children from his later marriage to Maureen Haver, who died in 1993. Afterwards he married Sandra Paul, the ex-wife of his friend and CenTrust banker David L. Paul. Their marriage also ended in divorce. Muss was a member of Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach. In later years, Muss was in a relationship with Amy Jeschawitz.
Muss died at his home in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on August 23, 2025, at the age of 97.
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