The financial markets may be taking a hit lately, but Wall Street is still planning about $38 billion in bonuses this year. Bloomberg News reports that the money was thanks to "a record $9 billion of fees for arranging acquisitions and $5 billion for underwriting initial public offerings and sales of junk bonds." This translate to an average Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns worker getting over $200,000 in bonuses.
The irony is that many banks have had billions in losses. Manhattan College professor Charles Geisst told Bloomberg News even banks who have suffered big losses "have to fall in line. If Bear and Merrill plead poverty, they're going to lose all of their good people.''
Bloomberg News helpfully points out that the $201,500 average bonus, which is four times the median American family income, is "enough to buy a Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet, a day for two at a VIP spa suite at New York's Mandarin Oriental hotel, and a year's tuition and fees for a high-school student at Trinity School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan." Curbed suspects that bonus-rich bankers will be investing in real estate, specifically at Superior Ink in the West Village and Manhattan House on East 66th since those two developments "appeal to both stuffy old money men and the young hotshots looking to impress them."
