Overview
- New York's comptroller reported Thursday that the 2025 Wall Street bonus pool rose 9% to a record $49.2 billion.
- The average cash bonus increased about 6% to roughly $246,900 as trading, underwriting and asset-management fees stayed strong despite tariff-driven market turmoil.
- Securities firms earned $65.1 billion in pre-tax profit, a rise of more than 30%, adding an estimated $199 million to state income tax and $91 million to the city's collections.
- Preliminary figures show industry employment slipped to about 198,200 from 201,500 in 2024, though the comptroller expects later revisions that could show modest growth.
- The estimate draws on December–March tax withholding and excludes stock grants or other deferred pay, and in inflation-adjusted terms bonuses still trail the 2006 peak and the 2020–21 surge as the comptroller warns that slowing job growth and geopolitical conflict pose risks.