Eileen Murray

Eileen Murray
Born	1958 Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Financial services executive
Years active	1984–present
Known for	Co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates; leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston

Eileen Murray (born 1958) is an American executive in the financial services sector and formerly served as co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, recognized as one of the largest institutional asset management firms globally. Her leadership experience spans prominent institutions such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston, Duff Capital Advisors, and Investment Risk Management. In both 2007 and 2008, U.S. Banker honored her among the 25 Most Influential Non-Bank Women in Banking.

Early life and education

Murray was born to Irish-American parents and spent her early years living in public housing within Inwood, Manhattan. During her childhood, she relocated to Riverdale, Bronx. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Manhattan College in 1980.

Career

Starting her career at Morgan Stanley in 1984 as a senior analyst, Murray rose to the position of managing director by 1994. She held several key roles there, including controller, treasurer, chief accounting officer, and chief operating officer for Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities Group, a tenure that lasted until 2002.

In 2002, she transitioned to Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) as the leader of global technology, operations, and product control. In this capacity, she managed a workforce exceeding 7,000 employees and administered a budget of $4 billion. Notably, Murray was the inaugural female member of CSFB's Executive Board.

Murray returned to Morgan Stanley in 2005 as managing director and Head of Global Technology and Operations. She oversaw a staff of 10,000 and managed a $5.5 billion budget while serving on the firm's Management Committee until her retirement in 2007.

Following her time at Duff Capital Advisors, Murray took on the role of CEO at Investment Risk Management LLC from 2008 to 2009. She joined Bridgewater Associates in 2009, ascending to co-CEO in 2011 and participating on its management committee until her departure in April 2020. In that year, she initiated legal action against Bridgewater alleging non-payment of deferred compensation connected to her reporting of a gender discrimination claim; this dispute was ultimately resolved privately.

On June 30, 2020, Murray was appointed Chair of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which regulates broker-dealers across the United States. Her service on FINRA’s board concluded in 2022.

Miscellaneous

Murray holds board memberships with international financial services company HSBC Holdings plc, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR), and has been affiliated with the Irish Arts Center since 2016. In 2022, she joined Broadridge’s board as its fourth female director among twelve members, ten of whom are independent. Her previous governance roles include serving on the Board of Governors for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from 2016 through 2022; participating on the board of real estate firm Compass from 2020 to 2022; involvement with the YMCA of Greater New York between 2005 and 2015; membership at the Business Council for International Understanding from 2013 to 2016; and leadership positions at both the Depository Trust Company and OMEGO spanning 2001 to 2005. Additionally, she contributed to advisory and audit committees at Hewlett-Packard Financial Services and Argonne National Laboratory and held board positions with Manhattan College as well as the American Women's Development Corporation.

Among Murray’s honors are her induction into the Irish America Hall of Fame in 2020 and receipt of The Ireland Funds’ Leslie C. Quick Jr. Leadership Award in 2019. In 2018, she was recognized with the Finance Pioneer Award during Women's Entrepreneurship Day at the United Nations and became Manhattan College’s first alumna awarded the De La Salle Medal of Honor.

Her distinctions further include the Markets Media Women in Finance Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, recognition as an Afterschool Champion by the Partnership for Afterschool Education, and placement on Irish America Magazine’s Business 100 Best and Brightest Leaders list in 2016. Earlier accolades feature the YMCA of Greater New York’s Arts & Letters Award for Outstanding Leadership (2013), acknowledgment as one of the Top 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds by Hedge Fund Journal (2013), being named Bond Market Association Woman of the Year (2003), and rankings among the top 25 Most Powerful Non-Bank Women in Banking by American Banker during both 2007 and 2008.