Phil Murphy

Both of his parents were enthusiastic supporters of John F. Kennedy and volunteered for his campaign in the 1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts.

Murphy played soccer as a boy, an interest that stayed with him in later life.

His mother believed strongly in the importance of education, and Phil and his three older siblings all earned college degrees.

Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey.

Murphy graduated from Needham High School, along with future Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, in 1975.

Murphy is the first Democratic governor of New Jersey to win a second term since Brendan Byrne did so in 1977.

In July 2022, Murphy became the first National Governors Association chair from New Jersey.

Murphy was born in Needham, Massachusetts, and was raised in both Needham and nearby Newton, the son of Dorothy Louise (Dunton) and Walter F. Murphy.

The family was Irish American, with Phil being third generation.

According to Murphy, his household was "middle class on a good day;" by his recollection, his mother, a secretary, and father, a high-school dropout who took any job he could (including liquor store manager and for-pay pallbearer), lived paycheck to paycheck.

He graduated from Harvard University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.

At Harvard he aspired to become a professional musical theater performer and was elected president of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, a theatrical student society.

Murphy began his career in finance with a summer associate internship at Goldman Sachs in 1982.

He then attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where he received a MBA in 1983.

He was hired after graduating in 1983.

He rose in the ranks quickly, later attributing that success to his ability to make deals: "Two people may not like each other and can't work together. Their mutual dislike is their problem. I don't let it become mine. I'll be the man in the middle and the three of us can work out something everybody is happy with."

From 1993 to 1997, Murphy headed the firm's Frankfurt office.

His business responsibilities were later expanded to encompass Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as in the emerging post-Warsaw Pact economies of Central Europe.

In this role he engaged in a number of transactions with the German government's Treuhandanstalt agency, whose purpose was to conduct the privatization of formerly state-owned enterprises within the boundaries of no-longer-extant East Germany.

Murphy was also active in the Atlantik-Brücke organization, including co-founding its International Advisor Council.

From 1997 to 1999, Murphy served as the President of Goldman Sachs (Asia).

In that capacity, he was officed in Hong Kong.

During this time Goldman Sachs profited from its investment in Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings, a shoe manufacturer that became notorious for its harsh labor practices.

The $55 million investment was made the year before Murphy took the Asia post and it is unclear to what extent Murphy was aware of the firm's operational characteristics.

In 1998 Murphy told the Wall Street Journal that "We [at Goldman Sachs] are elite in the sense the Marine Corps is elite".

In 1999, Murphy secured a spot on the firm's management committee.

There his colleagues included Hank Paulson and Gary Cohn, both of whom later served at highest levels of the federal government.

This coincided with the repeal of Glass–Steagall; the repeal allowed Murphy and his colleagues to make much greater use of leverage and profoundly changed how the company generated profits.

He served as finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee in the mid-late 2000s under Howard Dean.

During his ambassadorial tenure, Murphy dealt with international fallout from the United States diplomatic cables leak.

While planning to run for governor of New Jersey, Murphy and his wife Tammy Murphy launched New Start New Jersey, a progressive organization.

In 2001, Murphy became global co-head of the firm's Investment Management Division.

This unit oversaw the investments of foundations, pensions, hedge funds, and wealthy personages, and by 2003 had amassed $373 billion in holdings.

Murphy had a 23-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he held several high-level positions and accumulated considerable wealth before retiring in 2006.

He is involved in many civic organizations and philanthropic pursuits.

From 2009 to 2013, Murphy served as the U.S. ambassador to Germany under President Barack Obama.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2017 and narrowly reelected in 2021.

He defeated Republican then-Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno in the 2017 gubernatorial election with 56% of the vote.

In December 2019, Murphy became the chairperson of the Democratic Governors Association, a position he held for a year.

He was reelected in an unexpectedly close race in 2021, defeating Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli with 51.2% of the vote.