Malik Murray, Ariel exec and former St. Ignatius and Blue Demon basketball player, dies at 50

Chicago Tribune

20-04-2025

Chicago native Malik T. Murray was a longtime executive at Chicago-based Ariel Investments. He served on the board of trustees of DePaul University, where he had played Division I basketball, and he was on the board of directors for St. Ignatius College Prep.
Murray oversaw Ariel's fundraising efforts for its investment strategies as the company's head of business development.
'Everyone just loved Malik. He was extremely generous,' said Ariel's founder, chairman and co-CEO John W. Rogers Jr. 'He always had time for everyone, and was never too busy to talk to a friend in need or a young person who needed mentorship, or someone who was going through a difficult time — Malik was always there for them. It didn't matter their titles.'
Murray, 50, died of an apparent heart attack on Saturday at his home, said his sister, Nubia Murray Davis. He had recently become a West Town resident.
Born and raised in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, Murray was the son of Cook County Circuit Judge Leonard Murray and Linda Diane Gray Murray, who had been a longtime teacher and assistant principal at Hyde Park Academy until her death in 2021.
Murray attended St. Philip Neri Elementary School and then enrolled at St. Ignatius College Prep, where he was a standout basketball player. In December 1991, the 6-foot-8-inch Murray was named one of the Tribune's Athletes of the Week after sinking 40 points and making 30 rebounds in two narrow St. Ignatius victories in one week, over St. Rita and Providence. Seen as a finesse player who alternated between guard and forward, Murray averaged 20.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for St. Ignatius.
After graduating from St. Ignatius in 1992, Murray was recruited by DePaul, where he was a four-year letter winner on the men's basketball team under then-head coach Joey Meyer, as well as being the team's seventh man his senior year.
After earning a bachelor's degree in finance from DePaul in 1996, Murray took a job with Bank One Brokerage, where he worked for eight years, eventually serving as a broker for its international exchange-traded products. He earned an MBA in finance from DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in 2004.
In December 2004, Murray joined Ariel, eventually rising to become its senior vice president and head of business development and institutional marketing. Ariel's former executive vice president of institutional marketing, Peter Q. Thompson, who hired Murray, noted that Murray was 'fiercely competitive, but didn't need to let anybody know that.'
'His demeanor was mild, but his passion for achievement — especially on the basketball court and at Ariel — was anything but mild,' Thompson said. 'I was out with Malik and John Rogers for dinner just last week and had a great conversation about life and work — and how much he loved and respected being part of the Ariel culture. He personified the Jesuit maxim instilled in him at St. Ignatius College Prep: 'Men and Women for Others.''
'The entire Ariel family is in a state of shock over the passing of our beloved friend, Malik Murray,' Ariel Investments said in a statement. 'Malik was the ultimate teammate who always put clients and colleagues first. A fiercely competitive, yet abundantly kind spirit — he inspired excellence in everyone who had the privilege of working with him. He was a true gentle giant — big in stature, energy and heart. The only comfort to this devastating loss is 20 years of wonderful shared memories.'
In 2022, Murray delivered the commencement address for DePaul's Driehaus College of Business. That same year, he established an endowed scholarship at the school for excellence in basketball and finance.
In 2023, Murray joined DePaul University's board of trustees, and he was serving on the university's finance and investment committees at the time of his death.
From 2017 until 2023, Murray served on the executive committee of the board of directors of St. Ignatius College Prep, where he was the founding chair of the School Culture DEI Committee. St. Ignatius President John Chandler recalled Murray 'mentoring scores of our players, coaches and students into this year,' and called him a 'gentle giant' among the school's alumni.
'As the Ignatian prayer for generosity states, he 'toiled and asked for no reward,'' Chandler said. 'Malik lived with deep purpose (and) led with love, lifted others and built lasting community wherever he went. He lived by his words and his personal example of the way he loved his life, and lit the way for all of us to follow. With grit, grace and love, he made us better. How humbled I and our community are to have called him a partner and friend.'
In 2021, Murray established a financial aid endowment for students at St. Ignatius, the Linda Diane Gray Murray Excellence Through Education, Equity and Inclusion Endowment. Rogers noted Murray's 'immense loyalty' to Chicago and the institutions that had formed him.
'He was so incredibly loyal to those institutions,' Rogers said. 'He truly just felt lucky to be part of the St. Ignatius family and the DePaul family and what came through so clearly was that whichever board he was on, he made a difference. He would roll up his sleeves and make a difference for everyone, and that sense of being a great teammate of the organizations that he loved is something that's really rare and unique. Whether you were around DePaul or Ignatius people, they just so embraced Malik. This is going to be such a loss for the city.'
During his finance career, Murray worked for a time as a referee for the NBA Development League, now known as the G League. Outside of work, Murray was an avid golfer, and he enjoyed traveling, his sister said.
Art Reliford, a Hyde Park native and friend since the two were about 12 years old, called Murray 'a selfless individual who would give you the shirt off his back.'
'Malik was my guy, man. He'd do anything for you. He was very accomplished, but as high as he got, he would never knock anybody else down, and that was one of Malik's best attributes,' Reliford said. 'He was always a cheerleader for everybody.'
Former Illinois and Chicago Bulls player Kendall Gill, who during the COVID-19 pandemic formed the 60/40 Club — consisting of certain intense workouts — to keep Chicagoans fit, was also a close friend.
'He was a big part of my 60/40 workout and he's a big part of the reason my children go to St. Ignatius,' Gill said. 'After my retirement from the NBA, I played basketball with Malik in different leagues, on the same team. He was a big part of my life, and he and his girlfriend, Liz, were great friends with my wife and me and my sons. This is just a very sad day for my family, for the Chicago basketball community, for St. Ignatius, for Ariel and for our 60/40 Club.'
In addition to his sister, Murray is survived by his father, Leonard; another sister, Kai Murray; and a brother, noted tennis coach Kamau Murray.
Services are pending.