My real job pays me quite well and my side job is a nice little addition to my income; I’m able to live quite comfortably with few monetary concerns. Having said that, I really, really, really need to be the head of my own hedge fund. Thats where the money’s at people:
James Simons, a 69-year-old publicity shy former math professor, uses complex computer-driven mathematical models to make bets on stocks, bonds and commodities, among other things.
His earnings last year were $1.7 billion.
As one of the leading hedge fund managers, Mr. Simons makes a sum that dwarfs that of the top chiefs on Wall Street. The highest paid on the Street, Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, earned $54.3 million in salary, cash, restricted stock and stock options last year. (Unlike the total for Mr. Simons, Mr. Blankfein’s reported compensation does not include gains on investments.)
And Mr. Simons, the founder of Renaissance Technologies, is not the only member of the billion-dollars-a-year club.
Two other hedge fund managers, Kenneth C. Griffin and Edward S. Lampert, each took home more than $1 billion last year, with George Soros missing the hurdle by a hair, give or take $50 million, according to an annual ranking of the top 25 hedge fund earners by Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine, which comes out today.
Sweet baby Jesus. That Simons guy earned $1.7 billion last year? Billion with a B? Thats a nice sum of money, to be sure. In all honesty, its an absurd amount of money for one person to make in one year. Read the whole article for a clearer picture of how these hedge fund managers are rewarded. The numbers are mind-boggling.
(via Jason Kottke)