Billionaire dealmaker Ken Moelis says Wall Street pay raises for junior bankers could just be getting started
- Banks have been boosting pay to hold onto junior Wall Street talent.
- The going rate for first-year base pay is now at least $100,000.
- Another wave of raises could be coming, Billionaire dealmaker Ken Moelis says.
Pay raises for young Wall Street bankers has been one of the stories of 2021. It could be for 2022, also.
Amid a surge in deal flow through 2021, financial firms have been force to compete to keep talent by raising pay and the going base pay for people fresh out of college is now at least $100,000. Some banks are also going on big recruiting pushes- though recruiters say the hiring pool is nearly tapped out for junior talent.
There's already been a second wave of pay raise announcements in recent weeks, with banks including Bank of America and Morgan Stanley telling staff to expect another bump next year.
Ken Moelis, the billionaire founder of advisory firm Moelis & Co, told Bloomberg TV on Thursday that he's also ready to bump up pay even more next year.
"It's possible," Moelis told Erik Schatzker when asked if the firm might raise pay again next year. "We need great talent."
"Business is booming," he added. "Our firm, last quarter, I think our business was up 100% year-over-year, and our people were up 10%. You can just do the math. Somebody is working very hard. And I think they deserve to be paid."
There's a big pipeline of IPOs coming this fall. And top dealmakers have told Insider a recent M&A boom is just in its early innings. Still,
You can get a bank-by-bank rundown of new investment banker salaries right here.