Washington, DC – Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group today named Adena T. Friedman Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Operating Committee. Ms. Friedman comes to Carlyle from NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., where she is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategy. She will be based in Washington, DC and begin her duties on March 28, 2011.

Carlyle Co-founder and Managing Director Daniel A. D’Aniello said, “Adena is a great strategic hire for Carlyle. Through her dynamic leadership and creativity, Adena will enable Carlyle to have a robust and innovative finance function that meets the growing demands of our investors for more and better quality financial reporting. Further, Carlyle will benefit from Adena’s wealth of strategic planning and cross-border M&A experience as we continue to expand our global platform.”

Ms. Friedman said, “I have admired Carlyle for many years and welcome this remarkable opportunity. Carlyle is a premier global investment firm where innovation, product development and customer-focused growth are the key strategic drivers.”

Ms. Friedman is the latest among several recent senior appointments, including: Mitch Petrick, Head of Global Credit Alternatives and Capital Markets; Mike Arpey, Managing Director for fund formation strategy, new investor products and investor relations coordination; and Rodney Cohen, Head of the U.S. Equity Opportunity team.

Ms. Friedman, who will report to Carlyle’s Founders, joins Messrs. Petrick and Arpey and four other key leaders on the firm’s Operating Committee, which is chaired by Glenn Youngkin.

Ms. Friedman joined NASDAQ in 1993, where she served in several senior roles, including CFO, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and NASDAQ Data Products, Director of Product Management for several trading-related products and Marketing Manager.

In August 2009, Ms. Friedman assumed the role of CFO, responsible for all financial, tax, investor relations, enterprise risk management and investment matters. Ms. Friedman’s duties also included identifying and developing strategic opportunities for NASDAQ OMX, which she performed since 2003.

Ms. Friedman’s accomplishments include:
• 2010 – directed a $797 million share repurchase program, including a negotiated repurchase of $500 million of shares from Borse Dubai.
• 2010 – directed the refinancing of NASDAQ OMX’s $1.7 billion term loan and directed ratings upgrades by Moody’s and S&P to investment grade status
• 2007-2008 – directed NASDAQ's acquisition of OMX Group, the Nordic and Baltic market and global exchange technology business
• 2007-2008 – led NASDAQ OMX's acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange
• 2005 – directed NASDAQ‘s acquisition of INET ECN
• 2000 to 2009 – led Global Data Products, a $250-million business unit that grew revenue at a CAGR of 15% on an organic basis between 2004-09.

Ms. Friedman, age 41, earned her M.B.A., with honors, from Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, TN. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from Williams College in Massachusetts. Ms. Friedman lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband and two sons.