Wall Street Bonuses Hit Record $23.9 billion, up 15% in 2006
Wall
Street bonuses are expected to rise to a record $23.9 billion in 2006 from
$20.5 billion in 2005, according to New York State Comptroller. The
bonuses will generate $1.6 billion in tax revenues for New York State and
another $500 million for New York City.
The record Wall Street performance was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., setting a record for net earnings of $9.5 billion. That works out to about $370,000 in profit per employee at the world's largest investment bank. Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers also showed hefty profits.
Bonuses will average $137,580 in 2006, up 15% from last year. But you can throw averages out the window because Goldman Sachs Chairman Lloyd Blankfein's bonus could top $50 million this year.
The global M&A deal making boom is a huge catalyst for the Wall St. The value of global mergers for 2006 is expected to top $3.8 trillion, beating the previous high of $3.33 trillion in 2000, according to research firm Dealogic.
Figures provided by the NY Comptroler office do not include gains from stock option exercises, which could boost compensation "by billions of dollars," according to the comptroller's report.
