A.J. Murphy

Alice J. "A.J." Murphy is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Private Equity, one of the world's largest alternative asset managers overseeing approximately $132 billion in corporate private equity assets. A graduate of Middlebury College (Class of 1998), where she earned a B.A. with a joint major in Political Science and English Literature, Murphy has built a distinguished career spanning more than two decades across Wall Street's most prominent institutions. She was recognized by Investment Dealers' Digest in 2011 as one of the "40 under 40" bankers who emerged as leaders on Wall Street.

Murphy spent the first 20 years of her career in banking, primarily in leveraged finance and high-yield capital markets. She held senior positions at Bankers Trust / Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, where she focused on media, technology, and financial sponsors. She rose to partner at Goldman Sachs and subsequently became Global Head of Capital Markets at Bank of America, leading teams across Equity Capital Markets, Debt Capital Markets, and origination of Corporate Derivatives and FX globally. After her banking career, she joined Silver Lake Technologies as a partner, bringing her capital markets expertise to the technology-focused private equity firm.

Following Silver Lake, Murphy was hired by 40 North Management (the investment arm of Standard Industries) as Head of Markets in a newly created role in June 2021, reporting to co-CEOs David Millstone and David Winter. She then moved to Blackstone, where she currently serves as COO of Private Equity. Beyond her professional roles, Murphy serves as a Trustee of Middlebury College and sits on the national board of the Posse Foundation.

A.J. Murphy's career has centered on large-scale capital markets and private equity transactions rather than early-stage venture investing. At Blackstone, her focus is on operational leadership of the firm's corporate private equity platform, which targets large buyouts, growth equity, and strategic investments across sectors. Her background in leveraged finance and high-yield capital markets gives her deep expertise in deal structuring and capital formation. The original investor record indicating angel/seed investing may reflect personal investment activity outside her institutional roles, potentially through Silver Lake's network or informal angel investments leveraging her extensive Wall Street network.

At the institutional level, Blackstone Private Equity focuses on control and significant minority investments in large, established companies, with recent sector themes including energy/utilities, infrastructure, consumer brands, and technology-enabled services.