Michael Brown (born August 10, 1935) is an American football executive who is the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL). The son of Bengals co-founder Paul Brown, he joined the Bengals upon their founding in 1968 and assumed ownership after his father's death in 1991. His ownership has been criticized for a lack of on-field success, his refusal to cede football operations to a general manager, and the team's relationship with Hamilton County before and after a voter-approved tax increase to fund Paul Brown Stadium.