Investment Banking Bonuses: The Return of the Rainmakers

New York, Frankfurt It’s a disappointment on a very high level. Last year, the US investment bank Goldman Sachs made a net profit of $21.6 billion on revenues of $59.3 billion – more than ever before in the more than 150-year history of the Wall Street house. And yet the stock was among the losers in US trading on Tuesday.

In addition to the somewhat weak trading business in the fourth quarter, one point in particular was responsible for this: the massive increase in personnel costs, i.e. the bonuses.

Goldman paid $17.7 billion in employee compensation last year, a third more than last year. On average, that would be over $400,000 for each of the almost 44,000 employees. “Wage inflation” is what Octavio Marenzi from the capital market consultancy Opimas calls it. “Revenues are up just 8 percent, but pay is up more than 30 percent.”