Wall Street Bankers Make Stunning $145 Billion for 2009

Big banks have decided that big pay trumps good PR. In a move that is sure to irritate an already outraged public, major U.S. banks paid out $145 billion in compensation in 2009, up 18% from 2008 according to a study by The Wall Street Journal. The survey covered 18 financial firms and showed that pay packages were 32% of the revenue of these firms. Some firms quarreled with the paper's methods, but its figures are probably not far off the mark.