Just wondering. Is the CEO the highest paid individual at any bank? From what I understand, some baller traders could make more than what any BB CEO makes now via pay pre 2008, but it seems like that's no longer the case?
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I have heard anecdotally from a friend who is a trader at JPM/GS/MS that there exists a trader on his floor who is the highest paid person at the company, making more than the company's CEO. I don't know if this is still the case
Not sure if that's true when you also add in stock compensation, but as far as cash + bonus can confirm there's several people where that description possibly fits. Source: friend at a large HF is a major counter party with these banks.
After checking the salaries of the aforementioned people, it appears you are correct. The person who my friend was referring to does make the most in cash and other compensation (i.e. salary plus bonus), excluding stock-based compensation. The CEO of that company does make the most overall, but nearly 70% of the CEO's income is from stock based compensation.
I'm pretty sure in some banks the head of IBD can be paid more than the CEO (esp. if a universal bank with retail included).
I’ve heard certain MDs occasionally bring in more than the CEO
There are many instances of IBD and trading heads making more than the CEO. Former head of UBD IBD made something like double the CEO. At GS, the guys heading their Merchant Banking Division certainly make more when you account for carry. I would be surprised if someone heading a different division made more than the CEO, though. Certainly would not happen in ER/PWM/Risk.
Moelis?
Sorry, I meant UBS not UBD. Andrea Orcel who was head of IBD earned more than Sergio Ermotti who was CEO at the time. His severance package was something like 50m and Santander would have paid it to acquire his services had they not been a retail bank who had to justify management decisions to retail shareholders.
Eric Lane at GS probably earned more than Solomon when you include carry.
Everyone here is talking about fuckin w2 pay. CEO's at BB's will get much of their payment in deferred stock. You guys gotta stop thinking bonus = cash = bottle szn. No one's ever become a billionaire off W2 cash bonus payments. You'll get 60% ripped out of you if you live in NYC
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Not sure if this is still relevant, but I read that Peter Muller ran an inside hedge fund while at Morgan Stanley. This was before the subprime crisis but Muller kept a large share of the profits, which could be more than the CEOs pay. It is somewhere in The Quants by Scott Patterson.
I know you asked for BB’s but I know in AM, especially at the institutional level, many rockstar PM’s make double and maybe triple what the CEO makes, there are many cases across London and the US where this has occurred. However being a CEO is good as you have a guaranteed floor you can earn earn year in year out which is likely 10m+
I think I remember reading some article where a BofA MD made more than Moynihan. Moynihan was asked about it to and I think he said that the guy deserved it.
I know for a fact there's a trader at very large bank (although, shockingly for some, not a purebred BB) on the FICC floor that has, for a number of years post-2008, made more money than the company's CEO. I've met him on a number of occasions and can vouch that he is very much "a hedge fund on legs" (to quote a former colleague).
When it comes to a singular Managing Director in investment banking, it wouldn't be a yearly thing. Instead, it would really depend on the deals the MD originates and closes, the structure of the fee, and what percentage of the fee goes to him/her. A couple huge double-digit billion dollar deals could send quite a sizable paycheck to the MD who developed the relationships and got the deal done. I can't speak to traders or PMs at these banks, but I imagine there are similar situations that people detailed above. However, deferred stock compensation to executives such as the CEO may make this much closer than some might think.
garth ritchie (former head of cib at DB) was top-paid exec at DB at one point, paid more than CEO Sewing and anyone else at the bank for that matter
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