Record Pay For Recession Bankers

October 15th, 2009

Thinking about a job on Wall Street? If you don’t already, you should know they take their compensation and benefits very seriously…

Despite increased regulation and public outrage over Wall Street salaries and bonuses, financial firms are about to break a record for total compensation this year.
Some of these companies are feeling free to shell out for top talent after paying off their TARP debt to the government. Others are made confident by the rallying stock market and easier credit. This is all despite a national unemployment rate that is almost at 10%.
Not all banks are increasing the percentage of their revenue that goes toward compensation; some increases are simply a result of larger banks absorbing smaller ones, and some firms have actually decreased their corporate compensation.

According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of 23 financial firms, the average employee will earn $143,400, which is $2,000 more than the average salary in 2007.
These firms will pay a total of approximately $140 billion to their employees in 2009.
The typical compensation rate at large investment banks is about 50% of every dollar of revenue.

“Compensation played a role in the financial crisis, and yet nothing has changed.” – J. Robert Brown, Professor at University of Denver Law School