A large European universal bank was recently trying to lure a bright twenty-something MBA graduate from a US leveraged buy-out (LBO) firm to come to work in its London investment banking business. The target proposed an unusual bargain. He would come and work for the bank if it would compensate him for giving up his share in the capital gains he expected to make from the eventual sales of companies in his current employer's private-equity portfolio. As a signing-on fee he demanded $25 million. Even at a bank used to offering two-year guaranteed earnings of $2 million or more to key employees, recruiters were stunned by the demand from someone with no more than five years' work experience.
An investment banker at Goldman Sachs recently returned to his alma mater, Stanford University, to recruit. In years past, its best students would grab any chance to work for the world's most prestigious investment bank, famous for enriching its partners. This year, the seven brightest students extended offers were a little cooler. Most were considering other options. Their choice would be either Goldman or a private-equity firm.
Private equity is hot, and the numbers being bandied about in that business on the sizes of buy-out funds, the returns to investors, and the personal wealth of the cleverest, or luckiest, individuals are jaw-dropping.