Michael B. Gray is the chair of Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s Fund Formation & Investment Management Practice Group and a member of the Corporate & Securities Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, fund formations, real estate and intellectual property. He has extensive experience advising funds on their formation and compliance needs (both on-shore and off-shore). He also represents investors and companies in venture capital and private equity financings; mergers, acquisitions and restructurings; executive compensation; general contract and intellectual property agreements; and the structuring of partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies.

His clients include asset management firms, hedge funds, private equity and venture firms, family offices, institutions, entrepreneurs and middle market businesses.

Prior to joining private practice, Michael was an investor where he sourced, evaluated and closed private equity and venture capital transactions. He also was responsible for mentoring and monitoring management teams at the board and operating levels. Michael leverages this investment experience to advise clients on strategic, financial, management and operational issues.

Michael speaks about alternative asset investments, including venture capital, private equity and hedge funds, at industry conferences, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Kellogg School of Management. He is a former Kellstadt Graduate School of Business Adjunct Professor where he taught the course, “Successful Entrepreneurship Models.”

Michael is a former member of the Board of Trustees and former Alumni Board President at The Latin School of Chicago. He also is a former trustee of the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago's Society for Contemporary Art.

Michael received his J.D. from Northwestern University in 1992, his M.S. in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1988 and his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago, with honors, 1987.

Michael is admitted to practice in Illinois. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, Illinois Venture Capital Association, Association for Corporate Growth and TiE.

• Illinois

• University of Chicago (B.A., 1987) honors
• University of Illinois (M.S., 1988)
• Northwestern University School of Law (J.D., 1992)