[2] Murray has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from Ohio Wesleyan University.

On his grandmother's side he is the great-grandson of John F. Ahearn who was a prominent Tammany Hall leader and served as Manhattan Borough President from 1903–1909.

[5] Early in his career, Murray was a partner in the Beacon Group, a managing director of Mergers & Acquisitions at Merrill Lynch and a vice president at Dillon Read.

At Dillon Read, he was a key member in the defense team for Unocal Corporation which prevented a takeover-attempt by T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Petroleum in 1985.

[4] At the time, Goodman was the number four heating and air conditioning company behind Carrier Corporation, and reaching market saturation.

They lived for a while in Houston, Texas, while Murray was the chairman and CEO of Goodman Holdings and Amana Appliances.