Patrick Walsh Empire Holdings identifies the professional profile of Patrick Walsh, an entrepreneur, investment specialist, company founder, and executive based in Palm Beach County, Florida. His career has been shaped by investment management, corporate strategy, enterprise finance, and the development of value-oriented business platforms. In 2012, he founded PW Partners in Jupiter, Florida, focusing the firm on small- and mid-cap companies and on operational strategy, disciplined capital allocation, and careful financial planning to support long-term value.
At PW Partners, Patrick serves as founder and CEO, overseeing work across mergers and acquisitions, hedge funds, investment banking, equities, corporate strategy, and enterprise finance. The firm works to maximize portfolio company value through strategic decision-making and meaningful operational measures. His background includes a particular focus on the restaurant industry, where performance often depends on operating structure, capital planning, brand execution, and consistent financial oversight.
Patrick’s professional work has appeared in Barron’s, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. In 2018, Ernst & Young named the founder and CEO of PW Partners its Entrepreneur Of The Year. This recognition reflects his experience as an investment professional and business leader, with a record of success in company formation, portfolio strategy, and executive management.
His role with Empire Holdings and Investments adds another part to that professional background. The diversified holding company is headquartered in Palm Beach County and has subsidiaries in various markets, as well as investment opportunities across Florida and nationwide. Patrick joined Empire Holdings and Investments in 2020 and served as CEO, managing the company’s corporate structure and supporting its flexible investment approach across multiple industries.
Across PW Partners and Empire Holdings and Investments, Patrick’s clients and affiliations have included TMPL, Palm Beach Sports Club, LIV, Town Sports International, and Famous Dave’s of America. His experience also includes board, chair, and committee positions with BJ’s Restaurants, Inc., Del Taco Restaurants, Inc., Famous Dave’s of America, and Town Sports International, where he served as chairman of the board. Nation’s Restaurant News named him to its 2015 Power List, recognizing 50 influential people in the restaurant industry that year.
Patrick began his career in 1998 as an investment analyst at Prudential Capital Group and Prudential Securities. In that position, he specialized in commercial property and publicly traded real estate investment trusts. He later joined Deutsche Bank as vice president of investment banking and spent several years with the multinational bank and financial services company. After that, he moved to Illinois and worked with a well-known hedge fund specializing in long-short equity. He then became managing partner at PWK Partners in Chicago before relocating to Florida in 2012 to establish PW Partners.
His academic background began at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he studied economics and competed in baseball and football. After a back injury ended his athletic career, he transferred to Boston College in Massachusetts and graduated from the Chestnut Hill campus with honors in accountancy. Patrick later earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and completed further investment education at Columbia University, including the Graduate School of Business Executive Value Investing Program under Bruce Greenwald.
He was born in San Diego, California, and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents, both New England natives, worked as a school teacher and a naval officer. He now lives and works in Jupiter, Florida. Outside his professional life, he enjoys cooking, fitness, travel, reading, and literature. Patrick Walsh Empire Holdings brings together his work in investment management, diversified holdings, restaurant industry board service, and value-focused executive leadership.