Michael W. Wolitzer is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he is Head of the Investment Funds Practice. Michael’s practice focuses on private investing and other facets of “alternative asset management.” He has represented some of the largest and well-known sponsors of private investment funds, such as Apax Partners, Blackstone, Centerbridge, Lexington, Patria, Silver Lake and Sixth Street. In addition to private equity funds, he represents sponsors in other alternative asset classes such as real estate, energy/infrastructure, secondaries and credit/distressed debt, as well as on SMAs and fund structured products. He has represented global financial institutions in the establishment of their employee investment programs; family offices on their investment activities; acquisitions of, and investments in, private investment firms (including several minority stakes and control transactions); buyers, sellers and sponsors regarding the disposition of private fund interests, GP-Led Secondaries and other secondary transactions; and founders and other stakeholders in connection with carried interest and other customized internal arrangements.
Michael was previously the Co-Chairman of the Subcommittee on Private Investment Funds of the International Bar Association and is a member of the Executive Committee (and former Chairman) of the Private Investment Fund Forum (a group comprising New York City attorneys who practice extensively in the private fund area). He has served on the Advisory Boards of the Private Equity Analyst (relating to its Survey of Private Equity Partnership Terms and Conditions), the Private Equity Investment Guidelines Group (www.peigg.org) and the Advisory Board of the Private Equity CFO Association. In addition, he has served on the Trinity Board at Duke University as well as other capacities there. Michael is currently on the Board of Directors of the Association to Benefit Children (www.a-b-c.org).
Chambers consistently recognizes Michael in the top tier of Private Equity: Fund Formation lawyers in the United States in Chambers USA and Chambers Global. He has also been named a leading lawyer by The Legal 500 United States and IFLR1000, the 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Private Funds/Hedge Fund Law (New York Area) by Best Lawyers, one of Who’s Who Legal Private Funds “Thought Leaders 2018,” “Global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year” for 2013 and one of the “Most Highly Regarded Individuals” for 2014 by Law Business Research’s International Who’s Who of Private Funds Lawyers. Michael was also recognized in Euromoney’s 2010 Expert Guides, “The Best of the Best 2015,” as a Top 10 U.S. private equity lawyer in the Private Equity Manager’s “The Legal Power 30” and frequently among Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America” and “500 Leading Dealmakers in America,” most recently in 2025.
An established thought leader in the private funds space, Michael regularly serves on panels at several industry conferences. He has spoken at events hosted by the American Investment Council, Big 4 Accounting Firms, Harvard Business School, various Bar Associations and Practising Law Institute, as well as industry conferences and trade organizations. With decades of experience, Michael has shared keen insights on fund formation topics and cutting-edge trends in the private equity industry including: how to effectively manage multiple funds across different strategies; “long-term” fund structures; best practices in private placement memoranda and employee investment arrangements; the convergence of private equity and hedge funds; asset management mergers and acquisitions and GP minority stakes transactions; the increasing use of supplemental capital by fund sponsors; and the regulation of private funds and their advisors, among others.
Michael has been a Partner at Simpson Thacher since 1998. He has previously served as Chairman of the Firm’s New Partners Committee and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Duke University in 1986, where he was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Michael received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1989, where he was a James Kent Scholar (1987–1988) and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (1986–1987, 1988–1989).