Private equity can look from the outside like a faceless industry. Here are 10 Boston-area leaders ready to make an impression.
By Lucia Maffei – Reporter, Boston Business Journal
Nov 13, 2025
Private equity can sometimes seem like a faceless industry. But these Boston-area industry leaders are ready to make an impression.
We spoke with 10 key leaders in the Greater Boston private equity sector, spanning different levels of their careers and working at funds of various sizes. The selected leaders stand out because of their well-rounded (and sometimes international) business experience, unconventional path to the sector, unique side interests, practical advice to young professionals — and sometimes, their humility.
Massachusetts has more private equity-backed businesses in the U.S. than any state except California. The Bay State’s private sector is made up of over 70,100 enterprises, with 6.11% of them backed by PE, according to an August report by financial intelligence company S&P Global.
Just this past October, private equity firms made two large acquisitions in Greater Boston: Blackstone Inc. and TPG Inc. acquired Hologic in a deal valued at around $18.3 billion; and Vista Equity Partners made a majority investment in Nexthink, valuing the business at $3 billion.
Here are 10 leaders to know in the typically low-profile industry around Boston.
Clearhaven Partners
MICHELLE NOON
Michelle Noon’s most memorable time in private equity was not when she started her own firm in August 2019, but six months later, when the pandemic hit. That quickly led to one of the biggest run-ups in technology valuations of her entire career. At that time, Clearhaven Partners had just started investing in enterprise software and one of its values was to have “no fear of missing out,” or FOMO. “We were tested on that core value right off the gates,” she said. “It was an incredibly important time … to really focus on what we do well and be comfortable doing that to the exclusion of all else.” Noon says she's not afraid to be an “agitator” in meetings, she said, taking the counterpoint of a point that's being made in a constructive way. “I'm looking to try to tease out the best path forward or a better answer through collective thinking,” she said.
