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

Then in the meantime, a lot of the private equity folks are coming in to fill in the void, or different types of buyers are participating in this space and are building their own platforms. — Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 9 Oct. 2026

Butterfly Effect, Manus' parent company, said Thursday that the round was led by private equity firm Boyu Capital and venture investor IDG Capital, with follow-on investment from existing shareholders Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

That’s why some people took issue when photos of Rodrigo looking cozy with a man believed to be a private equity associate for AI investment firm Hg Capital surfaced in July. — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 7 Oct. 2026

The average active operational exit horizon for VC and private equity firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) stood at six years in 2025, reflecting a maturing market that requires more patient capital. — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for private equity

• inequity