World & BusinessThe pay trade-off between investment banking and private equity
Citing Matt Levine’s Money Stuff newsletter, a user argues that banking’s higher base salaries and more stable bonuses may compare favorably with uncertain private-equity payouts.
TLDR
A user says many friends and former colleagues who moved into private equity are reconsidering its financial appeal. In a September 24, 2026 post citing Matt Levine’s Money Stuff newsletter, they say investment realizations and fundraising have slowed. Banking’s higher base salaries and more stable bonuses might leave workers better off than spending the same hours in private equity hoping for a large profit-sharing payout, they argue. The user also says the M&A and IPO boom at the time was entirely concentrated in large companies, without benefiting private equity.
