GS IBD vs Apollo PE

Thoughts on which offer I should take? I have higher comp with GS but will probably be working less hours at Apollo

Edit: for some reason people think I’m lying, ok I have nothing to prove to you plebeians but for clarity sake:Aso1 in a Tier1 BB in NYC, got offered GS position a couple months ago but was given a very generous timeline to accept the offer.Apollo offer: Principal reached out to me and wants to poach me. He was my client a couple times before and I had developed a professional relationship with him also.

12 Comments
 

To my understanding, there's almost nothing quite like Apollo PE in terms of brutality and number of hours worked. These are two very different positions (congrats on both!), and if you really truly see yourself sticking it out at a cutthroat place like Apollo, then take that? Not sure what level you're recruiting at (I thought Apollo doesn't recruit analysts), though.

 
Funniest

Given you'll be a janitor, I would take Apollo. I like the location on central park better.

 

how can someone be picking between these two offers - timeline wise I mean

 

Honestly it’s hard, PE used to be a more lucrative and cushiony job with decent WLB. But ever since COVID, PE has become IB 2.0.

Now that we got IB pay bumps, I’m leaning more towards IB because at the end of the day I’m going to be working the same amount of hours but paid a whole lot more in IB.

I’ve alwags looked up to Apollo ever since I did my first internship, but now i just dont know what to do.

Also, I feel like I have a better chance of making it to VP ~~~> MD at GS than Aso—> Principal ->> MD at Apollo.

Do you or anyone have insight on how hard it is to climb the corporate ladder at Apollo?

 
Most Helpful

Its hard, but it's not "hard". It's hard because the job is tough, the culture sucks, and it's beyond banking 2.0. And it doesn't really get that much better as you progress from aso to principal. I've heard bad stories. It's not hard because if you're one of the 2-3 associates in your class who road it out for 9.5 years, your'e rewarded with a partner seat. The rest of your associate class probably left for HF or other PE or something else, so it's mainly a question of "last man standing". If you grind it out for 9 years and do good work, you'll probably make partner, just look at linkedin. Some of their partners are early 30s. They don't have anyone over the age of 34 that's still a principal. No easy task though, that's for sure. Path from partner to sr partner is something I don't really know much about, but who cares -- the average partner in their PE group probably has mid to high 8 figures in carry 

 

Provident quo fugiat ut et id deleniti. Et et molestiae natus omnis est minima qui. Impedit nostrum ea nesciunt sit provident. Sunt dolor quia voluptate et ipsa.

Ad voluptas sint esse tempore culpa. Itaque non aperiam nihil omnis dolorem voluptas aliquam. Odit non sit illum nostrum temporibus voluptatem. Repellat iure eos eum modi perspiciatis quaerat blanditiis. Placeat quia sint et minus quia soluta laudantium.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Bain Capital 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Ardian 98.9%
  • Blackstone Group 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (97) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (234) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (95) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (271) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (37) $80
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (351) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”