Business Owners

The Myth That Cost Joe Robbie $43 Million—and How to Avoid It

Joe Catanzarite, CFP

21 Sep 2025 — 3 min read

Have you asked yourself (more than once) lately…

“What in the world is going on in the world? Am I doing the right things to protect myself, my family and my wealth? Am I doing enough to preserve my lifestyle in retirement?”

If so, YOU are not alone.

I can’t help you with the first question, but I can help you with the second.

It’s critical to answer that second question NOW.

There are NEW forces at work in the economy and financial markets unlike any we’ve seen historically.

If you are like me… it’s important to separate fact from fiction.

Wealth Myths that can unknowingly sabotage your desire to “protect yourself, your family and your wealth and preserve your lifestyle in retirement.

Myth #3: The Good Advice/Bad Advice Myth

Most people believe advice comes in 2 varieties: good and bad.

The costliest advice is bad advice.

The second costliest advice is average advice (which cost Joe Robbie $43 million in taxes and family disunity).

Average (and even bad) advice can come packaged in a “well meaning” wrapper from family, friends, and business colleagues. Well-meaning folks who only retire once and are more than happy to give you advice about your retirement. Happy to give you specific advice without knowing your full details. And, without having fully (and diagnostically) assessed your existing plan.

Average advice can also come from existing advisors. Check out this true story…

Phenomenal Success and Tragic Loss…

Joseph “Joe” Robbie, the second of five, grew up in Sisseton, South Dakota. His father was a Lebanese immigrant and restaurant manager; his mother was a baker and the daughter of Irish immigrants.

In 1930, at 14 years old, Robbie became the sportswriter for his local newspaper. Four years later, during the Great Depression, when things got tough for the family, Robbie dropped out of high school to work as a lumberjack, sending $25 of his $30 monthly earnings home.

After completing his high school education in 1936, Robbie enrolled at Northern State Teachers College, then transferred to the University of South Dakota, where he met his future wife, Elizabeth. They would marry two years later.

Robbie enlisted in the Navy on the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Robbie saw substantial action in the Pacific theater and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service. After his discharge, he used the G.I. Bill to return to the University of South Dakota as a law student.

After law school…

… Robbie practiced law and was involved in politics. In March 1965, Joe Foss, the commissioner of the American Football League met with Robbie about an expansion franchise. Foss recommended Miami. Robbie formed a partnership with comedian Danny Thomas, a fellow Lebanese-American, and raised the $7.5 million expansion fee.

In 1987, Robbie built the Dolphins a stadium… with his own money.

In a South Florida Sun Sentinel article, they write, “’If I hadn't been told it was impossible I never would have started,’ Robbie says. ‘When they said, 'If Joe Robbie wants a new stadium, let him go build it himself,' I guess that challenged my Irish disposition.’ And so while most people don't get to see their dreams come true, their monuments built, Joe Robbie, at 71 years old, will be sitting tonight in a skybox in his own $102-million monument, Joe Robbie Stadium.’”⁴

Tough. Tenacious. Determined.

Yet after his death, due to poor planning, the team and stadium had to be sold for $109 million (below fair market value) to pay the $43 million estate tax bill, which could have been avoided with proper planning.⁵

Fifteen years later, the team and stadium were sold for $1.0 BILLION!

Worse than losing $43 million unnecessarily…

… the plan created family conflict and bitterness that lasted way beyond his death.

In the Business Week article, The Dolphins Never Played This Rough, they reported, “‘The structure of the trust and the rest of the estate made conflict all but inevitable… We were put in a difficult situation by our father,’ says Dan Robbie…”

Where were Joe Robbie’s advisors?

Joe Robbie’s problem wasn’t that he didn’t have a plan. It’s that his advisors didn’t upgrade his plan as he became wealthier. The tax and family conflict could have been avoided with comprehensive, integrated planning and disciplined execution!

What’s the costliest advice? Bad advice.

What’s the second costliest advice? Average advice.