Charles Murphy (hedge fund manager)

Charles W. Murphy (March 23, 1961 – March 27, 2017) was an American investor and hedge fund manager and has been referred to in media reports as a "financial guru".[1]

Charles Murphy
Born(1961-03-23)March 23, 1961
DiedMarch 27, 2017(2017-03-27) (aged 55)
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MBA)
OccupationHedge Fund Manager
EmployerPaulson & Co.

Early life and education

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Charles W. Murphy was born on March 23, 1961, to a middle-class New York family.[2] He grew up in New York City and attended Hunter Elementary School and Stuyvesant High School. He graduated with a B.A. from Columbia University, where he was a member of the starting varsity crew team, earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University, and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3][4]

Career

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Murphy began his career at Goldman Sachs (1985–1990) then joined Morgan Stanley as a managing director in the Financial Institutions Group (1990–2000). After ten years at Morgan Stanley he moved to London where he led the Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank (2001–2005) and then at Credit Suisse (2005–2007).[4]

Murphy also worked at Fairfield Greenwich, which had invested more than $7 billion in the notorious Madoff Ponzi scheme.[5] Murphy was unaware the firm was being victimized by Madoff. Murphy joined investment firm Paulson & Co. in 2009. He rose to the level of Partner. While there, he led many successful investments, including help organize the firm's activist push to break up American International Group.[6]

Personal life

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Murphy owned a 19th-century, 11,550-square-foot home in New York that he purchased in 2007 for $33 million, a record price at the time, from Seagram heir Matthew Bronfman.[7] In 2016, Murphy listed the property for sale for $49.5 million. In April 2018 Murphy's widow, Annabella Murphy, sold the seven-story home for $28.5 million.[5]

At the time of his death, Murphy was married to his second wife Annabella Murphy and had five children.[1]

Death

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Murphy died on Monday March 27, 2017 at the age of 56 after falling, dressed in a suit,[7] from the 24th floor of the Sofitel Hotel in midtown Manhattan.[6] Three weeks before his death, Murphy added his wife, Annabella to the deed of their home, giving her sole ownership of the property, which suggests Murphy may have planned his death in advance.[7]

Murphy was being treated for depression by a psychiatrist and was taking anti-depressants at the time of his death.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Hedge fund exec sought help for depression before suicide plunge". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  2. ^ a b Zuckerman, Gregory; Ng, Serena; Scism, Leslie (April 9, 2017). "Wall Street Made Charles Murphy Successful and Rich, but Happiness Eluded Him". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  3. ^ "Charles Murphy, Partner at Paulson's Hedge Fund, Dies at 56". Bloomberg.com. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  4. ^ a b "CHARLES MURPHY's Obituary on New York Times". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  5. ^ a b "Widow of hedge fund executive sells Upper East Side mansion at $21M discount". The Real Deal New York. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  6. ^ a b Shen, Lucinda (March 28, 2017). "Partner at John Paulson's Hedge Fund Plunged to His Death in Apparent Suicide". Fortune. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "Widow of Madoff victim sells NYC home for massive loss". New York Post. 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-04-24.