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Pay at Goldman Sachs

Nov 8 2006

On first blush, a new study confirms what many on Wall Street have long thought: Goldman Sachs pays a lot more than other investment banks. But once you get into the numbers, you find that may only happen at the top.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg suggested the average employee at Goldman will receive a bonus of $397,707 this year, $187,000 more than their counterparts at Lehman Brothers and more than twice as much as bankers at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Unfortunately, it appears Goldman’s generosity doesn't benefit all employees equally. One former staffer turned headhunter says the bonus pool's bulk is reserved for managing directors and partners. They receive around 40 percent of the total. He says the remainder of Goldman'ss staff receives slightly more than the industry average, but nowhere near double.

“For associates, vice presidents and executive directors, pay is roughly comparable,” this headhunter says. “You only start to see the really big payouts when you make managing director or partner.”

This was confirmed by headhunters in London. “It’s crazy to say that associates, vice presidents and directors at Goldman are paid twice as much as anyone else,” says one. “At the vice president level they pay more than most other banks, but not much more than 10 percent more. Morgan Stanley and Merrill paid roughly the same last year.”

Bloomberg arrived at its figures by examining the total proportion of revenues banks have paid out in compensation over the past five years. The news service then estimated revenues for this fiscal year and extrapolated total compensation on that basis. Bonuses were assumed at 60 per cent of the compensation total. The average predicted salaries and bonuses:

  • Goldman Sachs: Bonus: $397,707; Salary: $261,239
  • Morgan Stanley: Bonus: $154,556; Salary: $103,038
  • Merrill Lynch: Bonus: $174,683; Salary: $116,456
  • Lehman Brothers: Bonus: $210,696; Salary: $140,464
  • Bear Stearns: Bonus: $203,077; Salary: $135,385

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Comments (8)

  • UBS?

    hibba 22 Mar 2007

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  • Um, Goldman went public in 1999.  They no longer have partners.

    Paul 16 Oct 2007

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  • Although a public company, Goldman maintains the status of "partner managing director" for its most elite subgroup of MDs.  Those partner MDs, who now number 287, reportedly were compensated an average of $8.6 million each last year.  They make up a little over 1 percent of Goldman's total work force, but share about 15 percent of the annual bonus pool.

    Jon Jacobs 18 Oct 2007

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  • Goldman do still have Partner MDs to answer students point, not in so far as they are a partnership, it is simply a corporate title. However 20 million handshake says they do. Idiot

    Adrian 11 Dec 2007

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  • PMD's (partner Managing Director) is a corporate title held by the upper echelons of power. There bonus equates to a percentage share of the groups overall performance. As opposed to individual or team performance.

    Gordon Aitken 19 Dec 2007

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  • Don't forget ML's giant private wealth business, which will bring avg comp per head down on a consolidated basis.

    Anonymous 10 Jan 2008

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  • I bet GS is far better than Citigroup. They screwed up almost everyone with radiculously low bonuses this year.

    Better Off Alone 13 Feb 2008

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  • moron yes they do

    holla 28 Feb 2008

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