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Goldman Sachs Giving Out Record Bonuses

Wall Street`s most profitable investment firm, the Goldman Sachs Group, announced this week that it would be alloting up to $542,000 in pay raises, per employee, for the first three fiscal quarters of the coming fiscal year. In real-money totals, this means that Goldman Sachs will be shelling out a cool $13.9 billion to the firm`s 25,647 employees. For 22,425 employees, last year`s raises had reached a total of $11.7 billion.

According to analysts, total Wall Street bonuses will increase by as much as 15 percent this year due to rising stock markets and record mergers. One of the many good reasons for Goldman Sachs` reason for the raises was that the company posted higher earnings last year compared to Morgan Stanley or Merrill Lynch and Co. Average salary compensation at investment banks such as Goldman Sachs is usually made up of a set base-pay level, plus bonuses.

"Wall Street revenues were very strong in the first two quarters of this year, and that is driving up compensation rates higher than last year - to record levels," says Michael Karp, chief executive officer of Options Group, a New York-based executive search firm. "Competition within banks for talent will also make pay go higher, as everyone gears up for next year`s economic goals."