"I can't think of anything legal that is as good a business model."
Top private equity firms set aside more than twice as much to pay each employee last year than leading investment banks, underscoring the shift of power and money towards the less regulated corner of Wall Street.
Flush with profits from buoyant equity markets, Blackstone, KKR and Carlyle Group earmarked $2mn in total pay and benefits per employee in 2021, according to calculations by the Financial Times. That figure was at least twice as high as the per-employee amount set aside at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the corporate and investment banking arm of JPMorgan Chase, which have much larger headcounts.
