Updated:Let's get FIRED today!

[Playmaker]

Just an FYI, but either your cousin is full of it or you are. At GS (and any other BB or top-tier boutique for that matter), an individual in IB that was a first year analyst our of undergrad, regardless if it's Wharton or any other school, was paid 55k base, 5k signing bonus (or 7.5k, depending if they interned the prior summer or not), and a year-end bonus in the range of 30k - 60k (yes, it was a good year, but no way did any first year get more than that). That's all-in comp of roughly 100k (before 40% gets taken out for fed+NYC taxes in that income bracket).

Now, if he's a Wharton MBA, he'd be getting 85k base, 25k signing (I believe), and maybe 100k or so in year-end bonus, all-in comp being roughly 200k, give or take. However, from your post it seems like you were talking as though he's an undergrad.

The 275k base and all-in of 750k you mentioned is what a third-year VP or first-year director would be making. That is someone in their early 30s, likely with an MBA.

Finally, unless he's in the M&A group or has a real d1ck for an associate, I doubt if he averaged more than 90 hours/week.

IBankers will always exaggerate heavily when it comes to pay and hours, remember that.

 

[mhillary]

Well, all's well that ends well.

 

[Dessert Tears]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Just an FYI, but either your cousin is full of it or you are. At GS (and any other BB or top-tier boutique for that matter), an individual in IB that was a first year analyst our of undergrad, regardless if it's Wharton or any other school, was paid 55k base, 5k signing bonus (or 7.5k, depending if they interned the prior summer or not), and a year-end bonus in the range of 30k - 60k (yes, it was a good year, but no way did any first year get more than that). That's all-in comp of roughly 100k (before 40% gets taken out for fed+NYC taxes in that income bracket).

Now, if he's a Wharton MBA, he'd be getting 85k base, 25k signing (I believe), and maybe 100k or so in year-end bonus, all-in comp being roughly 200k, give or take. However, from your post it seems like you were talking as though he's an undergrad.

The 275k base and all-in of 750k you mentioned is what a third-year VP or first-year director would be making. That is someone in their early 30s, likely with an MBA.

Finally, unless he's in the M&A group or has a real d1ck for an associate, I doubt if he averaged more than 90 hours/week.

IBankers will always exaggerate heavily when it comes to pay and hours, remember that.

I was thinking along the same lines, asked around to make sure there weren't any outliers that I wasn't aware of. I have heard of a young guy pulling down 500k after promotion, but he was a superstar/golden child for 1 or 2 years as an analyst. The word is that he's not all that. 😉

I agree with the assessment that post implies undergrad. A graduate degree, which is particularly relevant to compensation, is not mentioned, so I'd assume it wasn't gotten. Furthermore, it seems unlikely to go straight-through to an MBA without a period of non-enrollment. I don't know about Wharton, but Sloan (MIT) MBA requires 2-3 years of work experience and will not accept any Sloan undergrads.

 

[Playmaker]

Correct, no feeders for IB (being Harvard, Wharton, Chicago, Columbia, Sloan) would accept anyone without 2-3 years of work experience. There are outliers, however, and I have heard of superstars (read: entrepreneurs while in undergrad) getting in straight out of undergrad. However, these types of students are generally not interested in going into IB (no successful entrepreneur would be).

And even a superstar would not warrant that kind of compensation after 1-2 years in IB. MAYBE in trading where one is directly responsible for making money for the firm and one's year-end bonus can fluctuate accordingly, but not in IB. The system is a dinosaur and doesn't allow those sorts of outliers to occur.

 

[Kaido]

Sometimes I'm glad I work at an hourly job. I choose not to get involved in office politics. Been there, done that. I don't care what others are doing. I don't care if they're not doing their work. I show up, do my work, and go home. I just worry about getting my work done and being nice to the people around me, that's pretty much it.

 

[Dessert Tears]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
And even a superstar would not warrant that kind of compensation after 1-2 years in IB. MAYBE in trading where one is directly responsible for making money for the firm and one's year-end bonus can fluctuate accordingly, but not in IB. The system is a dinosaur and doesn't allow those sorts of outliers to occur.

I think the guy was either equity or fixed-income research going into trading. My fault for not mentioning the distinction.

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Sometimes I'm glad I work at an hourly job. I choose not to get involved in office politics. Been there, done that. I don't care what others are doing. I don't care if they're not doing their work. I show up, do my work, and go home. I just worry about getting my work done and being nice to the people around me, that's pretty much it.

LOL I work a 40 hour week,7am-3pm M-F;
anything after 8 hours is overtime.and if Sat/Sun,its overtime.

Salary type jobs sux;anytime they can tell you to be there for 12 hours,
with no extra compensation,just bites.

 

[Playmaker]

Originally posted by: Flatscan

Originally posted by: Playmaker
And even a superstar would not warrant that kind of compensation after 1-2 years in IB. MAYBE in trading where one is directly responsible for making money for the firm and one's year-end bonus can fluctuate accordingly, but not in IB. The system is a dinosaur and doesn't allow those sorts of outliers to occur.

I think the guy was either equity or fixed-income research going into trading. My fault for not mentioning the distinction.

In that case the exaggeration is even worse. For the first-year research, the base is the same as in IB (55k), but no way will the bonus top 30k. In addition, research hours are significantly less. We're talking 60-70, maybe 80 during earnings seasons, but likely NO all-nighters as you will find in IB. Finally, if one is moving into trading I doubt they will have their own book immediately. They would likely be a trading assistant for at least 6 months with the same base, but much less in regard to a bonus.

FlyLice: IB (and research, sales, and trading) pay is great, but let's not get carried away. Why do you think the most successful analysts jump ship to hedge funds and private equity firms as soon as they possibly can?

 

[Playmaker]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Sometimes I'm glad I work at an hourly job. I choose not to get involved in office politics. Been there, done that. I don't care what others are doing. I don't care if they're not doing their work. I show up, do my work, and go home. I just worry about getting my work done and being nice to the people around me, that's pretty much it.

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
LOL I work a 40 hour week,7am-3pm M-F;
anything after 8 hours is overtime.and if Sat/Sun,its overtime.

Salary type jobs sux;anytime they can tell you to be there for 12 hours,
with no extra compensation,just bites.

That's not the correct way to think about it. People don't go into IB because they enjoy what they do day-to-day at the entry level. Nor do they necessarily look forward to working all-nighters. However, it is an industry of greed. To be successful in this field you have to, at some level at least, be an asshole. That's what it comes down to. It's cutthroat and you better care more about money, prestige, and success than anything else if you want to make it. These are the people that would rather work their asses off in their 20s and 30s and retire to yachts and constant overseas vacations in their 40s and beyond. They care simply about being successful while the average mid to late 20 year old is looking to start a family and move to the 'burbs.

If you don't believe or think I'm exaggerating, read Monkey Business, Liar's Poker, or any of the other various books on the high finance industry. In addition, don't feel I'm judging those that choose this career path. It's a subjective value choice on where your priorities and, in fact, I've been interested in IB for some time and may end up pursuing it, at least for 2 years, afterall.

I'll stop preaching now.