Wall Street posts record bonuses for 2024, topping $47 billion
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Wall Street bonuses surged 32% last year, as the country's top financial firms paid out a record $47.5 billion to their most successful employees, New York's comptroller said Wednesday.
Why it matters: After a sharp post-COVID rebound, there's a good chance this might have been the top.
The big picture: It may seem an odd metric for a state official to track, but the annual largesse is crucial to New York's economy — in fact, levies on Wall Street activity account for nearly 20% of the state's tax revenue.
By the numbers: The average Wall Street employee took home a bonus of $244,700 for 2024, comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.
- The total bonus pool is the largest on record.
The intrigue: Industry employment, at 201,500 people, passed the peak of the dotcom bubble, DiNapoli said.
- Yes, but: After booming profits in 2024, he warned things look less upbeat this year.
- "[I]ncreasing uncertainty in the economy amid significant federal policy changes may dampen the outlook for parts of the securities industry in 2025," he said in a statement.
Zoom out: Recent reports suggest a combination of economic weakness due to Washington trade policy, regulatory uncertainty, and AI advances could threaten hundreds of thousands of Wall Street jobs this year.
What to watch: Big Wall Street firms should start reporting first-quarter results in about two weeks, which may offer some insight into how they see the year shaping up.
