The Highest Paid People on Wall Street

I used to pride myself on knowing something about everyone in NYC running more than $1 billion. But Times are a 'changin, and there are now too many funds to keep track of.

But there are some old timers on this year's list of the top earning money managers on the Street. I don't think Dan Loeb or William von Muefling would claim that 2007 was a vintage year for them, but they pulled in around $250 million all the same. Och-Ziff (OZM-NYSE) was better known for its IPO than the numbers it posted; but pencil Dan Och in for $300 million last year, along with a liquidity event than he will certainly remember the rest of his life.

Of course, public shareholders of Och-Ziff did not fare so well; the stock continues to probe 52-week lows as the BuySide scratches its head and attempts to assign the appropriate valuation to the shares. Any Alternative Asset IPO's that can get priced in 2008 should trade at a discount to Och-Ziff, assuming the bankers can get them done. Perhaps selling a stake to Lehman or Goldman is more realistic than going public, however, for managers looking to monetize their stake.

T. Boone Pickens was probably the oldest member of the list, and Chase Coleman, at 32, the youngest. The young pup pulled down $350-$400 million, and out earned Pickens by about $50 million.

The other notable takeaway is the preponderance of heavyweight from Texas. Everything is indeed bigger there, and Equities in Dallas, once shunned, have pushed aside Denver and San Francisco as home to some of the biggest firms on the BuySide.

Tim Barakett and his brother Brett were probably the highest earning siblings on Wall Street last year; they were likely just shy of $500 million combined. And although blogs announced the demise of Caxton at least a dozen times in the second half of 2007, Bruce Kovner is still breathing and pulled down $150 million, which is only shabby considering his prior years.

London has firmly staked a claim to Hedgistan, responsible for 1/3 of the names on the list. While Noam Gottesman and Alan Howard are well known in the U.S., perhaps William Reeves of Bluecrest Capital Management and Martin Hughes of the Tosca Fund will soon be as well.

And with John Meriwether’s hedge fund blowing up in 2008, he might need to sock away his $100 million payday from 2007 and call it a day. How many chances will this guy get?

Top 100

John Paulson, New York, Paulson & Co. Estimated 2007 Income: $3 billion+

Phil Falcone, New York, Harbinger Capital Partners Estimated Income: $1.5–$2 billion

Jim Simons, New York, Renaissance Technologies Corp. Estimated Income: $1.5–$2 billion

Steve Cohen, Connecticut, SAC Capital Advisors Estimated Income: $1–$1.5 billion

Ken Griffin, Chicago, Citadel Investment Group Estimated Income: $1–$1.5 billion

Chris Hohn, London, The Children’s Investment Fund Estimated Income: $800–$900 million

Noam Gottesman, London, GLG Partners Estimated Income: $700–$800 million

Alan Howard, London, Brevan Howard Asset Management Estimated Income: $700–$800 million

Pierre Lagrange, London, GLG Partners Estimated Income: $700–$800 million

Paul Tudor Jones, Connecticut, Tudor Investment Corp. Estimated Income: $600–$700 million
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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 11-20

Greg Coffey, London, GLG Partners, Estimated Income: $500–$600 million

Ray Dalio, Connecticut, Bridgewater Associates, Estimated Income: $500–$600 million

Stanley Druckenmiller, New York, Duquesne Capital, Estimated Income: $500–$600 million

John Arnold, Houston, Centaurus Energy, Estimated Income: $400–$500 million

Louis Bacon, London, Moore Capital Management, Estimated Income: $400–$500 million

Israel Englander, New York, Millennium Management, Estimated Income: $400–$500 million

Jeffrey Gendell, Connecticut, Tontine Associates, Estimated Income: $400–$500 million

Dinakar Singh, New York, TPG-Axon Capital, Estimated Income: $400–$500 million

Chase Coleman, New York, Tiger Global Management, Estimated Income: $350–$400 million

Andreas Halvorsen, Connecticut, Viking Global Investors, Estimated Income: $350–$400 million

Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 21-30

Bill Ackman, New York, Pershing Square Capital Management, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

Jim Chanos, Connecticut, Kynikos Associates, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

James Dinan, New York, York Capital Management, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

Stephen Feinberg, New York, Cerberus Capital, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

John Griffin, Dallas, Blue Ridge Capital, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

Dan Och, Dallas, Och-Ziff Capital Management, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

Richard Perry, New York, Perry Capital, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

T. Boone Pickens, Dallas, BP Capital, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

Larry Robbins, New York, Glenview Capital Management, Estimated Income: $300–$350 million

Tim Barakett, Dallas, Atticus Capital, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 31-40

John Burbank, San Francisco, Passport Capital, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

Stephen Mandel, Connecticut, Lone Pine Capital, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

Nathaniel Rothschild, New York, Atticus Capital, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

Chris Shumway, Connecticut, Shumway Capital Partners, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

David Slager, New York, Atticus Capital, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

William Von Muefling, New York, Cantillon Capital Management, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

John Zwaanstra, New York, Penta Investment Advisers, Estimated Income: $250–$300 million

Marc Lasry, New York, Avenue Capital Group, Estimated Income: $200–$250 million

Dan Loeb, New York, Third Point Management, Estimated Income: $200–$250 million

Eric Mindich, New York, Eton Park Capital Management, Estimated Income: $200–$250 million

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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 41 to 50

Steven Roth, London, GLG Partners, Estimated Income: $200–$250 million

Peter Davies, London, Landsdowne Partners, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Dan Gold, New York, QVT Financial, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Steven Heinz, London, Landsdowne Partners, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Bruce Kovner, New York, Caxton Associates, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Willem Kooyker, New Jersey, Blenheim Capital, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Alec Litowitz, Illinois, Magnetar Capital Management, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Joseph Oughourlian, New York, Amber Capital, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Paolo Pellegrini, New York, Paulson & Co., Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Raj Rajaratnam, New York, The Galleon Group, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million
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The 2007 Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 51 to 60

Stuart Roden, London, Landsdowne Partners, Estimated 2007 Income: $150–$200 million

Paul Ruddock, London, Landsdowne Partners, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Martin Taylor, London, Thames River Capital, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Paul Touradji, New York, Touradji Capital Management, Estimated Income: $150–$200 million

Brett Barakett, New York, Tremblant Capital Group, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

O. Francis Biondi, New York, King Street Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Keith Campbell, Maryland, Campbell & Co., Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Richard Chilton, Connecticut, Chilton Investment, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Leon Cooperman, New York, Omega Advisors, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

William de Winton, London, Landsdowne Partners, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million
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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 61 to 70

David Harding, London, Winton Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Brian Higgins, New York, King Street Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Michael Hintze, London, CQS Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Martin Hughes, London, Tosca Fund, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Mark Kingdon, New York, Kingdon Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Michael Platt, London, BlueCrest Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

William Reeves, London, BlueCrest Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Brian Stark, Milwaukee, Stark Investments, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Jeffrey Tannenbaum, New York, Fir Tree Partners, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

David Tepper, New Jersey, Appaloosa Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million
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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 71 to 80

Matthew Tewksbury, Bermuda, Tewksbury Capital Management, Estimated Income: $100–$150 million

Jeff Altman, New York, Owl Creek Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

William Arah, London, Marathon Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Peter Briger, New York, Fortress Investment Group, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

William Browder, London, Hermitage Capital Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Richard Chenevix-Trench, London, Sloane Robinson Investment Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

David Einhorn, New York, Greenlight Capital, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

David Ganek, Connecticut, Level Global Investors, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Alex Habib, London, Spinnaker Capital Group, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Doug Hirsh, New York, Winton Capital Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 81 to 90

John Horseman, London, Horseman Capital, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Jeremy Hosking, London, Marathon Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Philippe Jabre, Geneva, Jabre Capital Partners, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Marcos Lederman, London, Spinnaker Capital, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Adam Levinson, New York, Fortress Investment Group, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Claude Marion, London, Spinnaker Capital, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

John Meriwether, Connecticut, JWM Partners, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Michael Novogratz, New York, Fortress Investment Group, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Crispin Odey, London, Odey Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Neil Ostrer, London, Marathon Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

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Trader Monthly 100: Nos. 91 to 100

George Robinson, London, Sloane Robinson Investment Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Barry Rosenstein, New York, JANA Partners, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Chris Rokos, London, Brevan Howard Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Gary Rosenbach, New York, The Galleon Group, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Art Samberg, Connecticut, Pequot Capital Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Thomas Sandell, New York, Sandell Asset Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Steven Schonfeld, New York, Schonfeld Group, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Hugh Sloane, London, Sloane Robinson Investment Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Thomas Stever, San Francisco, Farallon Capital Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million

Jaffray Woodriff, Virginia, Quantitative Investment Management, Estimated Income: $75–$100 million
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You needed at least $75 million in 2007 ­income to make the cut. Five of the forces of nature on the pages that follow cleared 10 figures. One, John Paulson, made, at minimum, a staggering $3 billion, more income banked in one year than any trader — maybe any human being — ever. Paulson wasn’t alone. Smart subprime and related bets produced windfalls for a slew of other top traders, including Phil Falcone, Richard Perry and John Burbank. Our usual elephants, Jim Simons and Stevie Cohen, did their customary stomping, while a ferocious pack of Tiger Cubs also roared into the coliseum.

Technology was back as an investment theme — a good one if you were long the right names. Financials served you well — as long as you had shorted them. This year marks the fifth annual top-­earning-traders list since Trader Monthly debuted with its inaugural rundown (based on 2003 income) in the autumn of 2004 — and oh, how the years and AUMs have, respectively, flown and grown.

Along the way, we’ve published a few estimates that wound up being too high; others, more often, came in too low. But we continue to strive for the most reasonably accurate compensation ranges that vigorous reporting can produce. But enough about our hard work; it’s time for mambo number five. The trades have been cast, the calculations made. On with our countdown. And for the third straight year, we’ve got a new top dog. Trader Monthly

The 2007 Trader Monthly 100
Trader Daily

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