Wall Street Fat Cat Bonuses Up 17% In 2009

Okay, so maybe not all Wall Street types are fat cats—but it was certainly a fatter year, as NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli revealed that bonuses for 2009 were 17% higher, at $20.3 billion. His office press release states, "Total compensation at the largest securities firms grew even faster and industry profits could exceed an unprecedented $55 billion in 2009, nearly three times greater than the previous all-time record. In 2008, the industry lost a record $42.6 billion."

Some other facts: While Wall Street only accounts for 5% of the jobs in NYC, its wages account for 24% of what's paid to NYC workers (using 2008 figures); the average taxable bonus rose to $123,850; and "Compensation at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase Investment Bank...increased by 31 percent in 2009. Average compensation rose by 27 percent to more than $340,000."

DiNapoli said, "Wall Street is vital to New York’s economy, and the dollars generated by the industry help the state’s bottom line. But for most Americans, these huge bonuses are a bitter pill and hard to comprehend. There’s a lot of resentment against the industry over its role in the global economic meltdown. Taxpayers bailed them out, and now they’re back making money while many New York families are still struggling to make ends meet." He called for firms to engage in less risky behavior and for more regulations.

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By Jen Chung in News on February 23, 2010 5:35 PM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuxBGgPvEYE

zincink

that cat has more money than me

nivek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypMl2RFTC9Y

Jackie Curtis

Who's the pretty kitty mama boo boo?

Love me that cat

bullishnyc

Fat cats disgust me! And I don't mean the Wall Street types either. I'm talking about the actual animals. I bet their owners are as massive as the felines themselves. These fuckin things probably weigh more than the average teen in Africa. I say let's euthanize the furry lard balls.

Jackie Curtis

The only thing that makes this greedy situaion bearable is that cutest picture ever of that fat cute kitty with all that muhla. Bunny boo!

JacqueMehoff

I could go either way with the fat cat.

Soft white underbelly, I could sleep on that belly and did to our cat.

dkim2015

how about a new fat cat picture? tired of looking at the same one.

ides_of_march

Uhm, what about the fat cats in congress who live off taxpayers dollars, have lavish benefits and perks, gifts from lobbyists, and they get to vote themselves raises?

How about the fat cat union bosses that also benefitted from the GM bail-outs? They're living pretty high on the hog too.

How about the fat cat trial lawyers whose bleeding of the medical profession has caused medical costs to skyrocket?

I guess some fat cats are more equal than others.

Kojak

"While Wall Street only accounts for 5% of the jobs in NYC, its wages account for 24% of what's paid to NYC workers"

While their taxes probably account for over 30-50% of all tax receipts. And I'm being conservative. We bail them out, so they can continue to subsidize our tax situation. Dysfunctional, but whatever.

really!?!?

+1

glad to hear someone speak truth to stupid

no one really likes the banks right now, but if populist revenge is extracted, NYC as a whole will suffer way more then any individual firm or individual

yes, i do believe we need some financial regulation, something akin to glass-steagall needs to be reenacted, as well as some consumer protection laws. what we don't need is gov't regulation of pay.

Polemicist

NYC will only suffer if the political leadership is inept.

The budget of the city can easily be slashed by half. it will be unpopular, and probably hundreds of thousands of leeches will probably have to flee the city to someplace where Section 8 vouchers, food stamps, and other welfare programs actually work - but such is life. It was ridiculous for the City Council to attempt to secure their political careers by bribing huge numbers of people with Wall Street income that was obviously not going to last forever.