private equity

noun

plural private equities

1

: investment in a company that does not trade on a public stock exchange : interest in a private company

… the proportion of the pension fund parked in private equity grew from nearly 21% of the portfolio in 2014 to about 28% earlier this year.

—Alex Baumhardt

—often used before a noun

private equity investments

2

: investment groups that pool the money of investors in order to acquire ownership shares in private companies

Private equity likes to acquire firms with debt, merge some of them together, find efficiencies, expand and then sell the company or go public on the stock market—in hopes of making a profit for investors.

—Kelly Yamanouchi

Examples of private equity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Chernin went on to found a private equity firm, The Chernin Group, in 2010, which backed a number of companies in the creator economy space, including Fullscreen and Tumblr. —Julia Boorstin,stephen Desaulniers, CNBC, 6 June 2026

The International Finance Corporation and Proparco have announced plans to invest $50 million in Helios Sports and Entertainment, an African private equity fund focused on sports and entertainment. —Jenny Vaughan, semafor.com, 3 June 2026

The candidates also piled on Steyer for his past investments in fossil fuels and private prisons, and for his current holdings in offshore private equity funds, accusing him of trying to buy his way into office. —Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026

Pulte is the founder of the private equity firm Pulte Capital Partners. —Joey Garrison, USA Today, 2 June 2026

The second celebrated a private equity fund’s record-breaking quarterly profit, largely attributed to yield optimization and timing the volatility of existing housing assets. —Nitin Gupta, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

As reported, last December international venture capital and private equity firm HSG acquired a majority stake in the group, with investment company Temasek and True Light Capital joining as minority investors. —Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 27 May 2026

In 2019, the private equity firm T.C.G. acquired a majority stake in Food52; the company immediately scaled up, using the investment to acquire Schoolhouse, a cult-favorite lighting manufacturer, and Dansk, a historic Danish cookware brand. —Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 27 May 2026

His name is Antonio Gracias, a handsome private equity investor from Detroit. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 25 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for private equity

• inequity