Paul Efron, Former General Partner of Goldman Sachs & Co, Joins Star Mountain Capital as Senior Advisor

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 18, 2026--

Star Mountain Capital, LLC ("Star Mountain"), a rapidly growing, employee-owned investment firm with approximately $4.5 billion in assets under management (“AUM”), is pleased to announce that Paul Efron has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Efron will support Star Mountain with strategic insights into capital markets, governance and financial innovation to further advance the firm’s mission of generating long-term value for its investors and portfolio companies.

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Paul Efron, Former General Partner of Goldman Sachs & Co, Joins Star Mountain Capital as Senior Advisor

With over 40 years in investing, investment banking and capital markets, Mr. Efron has deep experience across debt and equity capital markets, leveraged finance, product development, and underwriting of fixed-income commitments.

“Paul is an exceptional leader with extensive experience, drive and creativity,” said Brett Hickey, Star Mountain Capital Founder & CEO. “His decades of leadership at Goldman Sachs bring highly valuable insights and relationships to add value to all Star Mountain’s investors and stakeholders.”

During his extensive 38-year tenure at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Efron worked in a variety of leadership capacities including being elected General Partner in 1998. He ran a variety of businesses for the firm, including Debt Capital Markets in London, New Product Development for the Investment Banking Division, and Leveraged Finance. He served as a senior advisor to the Ford Motor Company for 15 years and executed some of its most important financings during the financial crisis. Mr. Efron chaired the Credit Markets Committee and served for 20 years on the Firmwide Capital Committee, which was responsible for reviewing the firm’s underwriting and fixed income capital commitments.

Mr. Efron has served on the Board of Directors of eight public and private companies. He is currently a director of Keenova, Inc, Bionic Sight and the Palm Beach Civic Association. He was on the Board of Trustees and served as Board Chair of his Alma Mater, Pomona College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and also served on the Board of Bard College. He received his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Star Mountain has built a distinctive strategy focused on unlocking value in the lower middle-market, a space that offers attractive investment returns and meaningful portfolio diversification, which is what initially excited me,” said Mr. Efron. “I am looking forward to joining former colleagues from Goldman Sachs and a team with such a collaborative culture and a clear mission to generate lasting value for investors and business owners in an aligned fashion. I look forward to contributing my experience to help drive continued innovation and disciplined growth.”

About Star Mountain Capital

With ~$4.5 billion in AUM (committed capital including debt facilities as of 1/31/2026), Star Mountain specializes in providing scalable and data-driven investment solutions across two core strategies:

• Direct Investments: Providing debt and equity capital to established lower middle-market businesses.
• Secondary Investments: Acquiring LP interests, direct assets and making primary LP commitments.

Star Mountain’s investors include public and private pensions, insurance companies, commercial banks, endowments, foundations, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Employee-owned and sharing profits with 100% of its U.S. full-time employees, the firm prioritizes alignment of interests to maximize value for stakeholders.

Since 2010, Star Mountain has completed over 100 direct platform investments and 50 secondary/fund investments in the North American lower middle-market. The firm has been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies and a Best Place to Work by Crain’s New York Business and Pensions & Investments.

For more information, visit www.starmountaincapital.com.

Legal Disclaimer:

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase interests in any investment product. Awards and recognitions by third-party rating agencies, companies or publications should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results or performance. They should not be considered as an endorsement, recommendation or referral of Star Mountain Capital or its representatives by any client or third party. Rankings published by media and industry organizations are based on information provided by the recognized advisor. Additionally, readers should understand that past performance is not indicative of future results. Award descriptions and selection methodologies may vary.

Awards and Recognition Disclosure:

Star Mountain Capital's awards and recognitions are based on third-party evaluations and criteria, which may be subjective. These honors do not imply a guarantee of future performance or an endorsement by current or past clients.

Ranking Methodologies:

• Crain’s Best Places to Work: Evaluations were conducted through a two-part process, assessing workplace policies, practices and employee satisfaction via surveys. Participation required a fee solely for survey processing purposes. More details are available at Crain’s eligibility criteria.
• Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work: Companies were evaluated based on surveys measuring employee engagement (75%) and employer policies (25%). Participation required a minimum of 20 U.S. employees and $100 million in discretionary assets under management. Further details can be found at P&I eligibility criteria.
• Inc. 5000 Rankings: Companies were ranked based on revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. To qualify, firms had to be U.S.-based, privately held and independent, with revenue thresholds of at least $100,000 in 2019 and $2 million in 2022. More details are available at Inc. 5000 criteria.

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CONTACT: Media Contact:

John Polis – [email protected]

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA NEW YORK

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SOURCE: Star Mountain Capital

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PUB: 02/18/2026 04:30 AM/DISC: 02/18/2026 04:30 AM

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