Full Definition
Equity Multiple = Total Cash Distributions / Total Equity Invested. A 2.0x equity multiple means the investor received 2x their initial equity back over the hold period. Unlike IRR, equity multiple doesn't account for timing — it just measures the magnitude of total return.
Example
A $500K investment that returns $1,000,000 total (cash flow + sale proceeds) has an equity multiple of 2.0x.