Confirming what everyone in the UK — land of the obscenely paid footballer — already knew, veteran banking analyst Richard Bove has authored a piece of research illustrating that bankers do not make as much as those in professional sports.
The Rochdale Securities analyst compared the salaries of the top 15 individual players in (American) sports, the top 15 non-financial execs, and the top 15 in finance. The results are in the table on the left, click to enlarge.
As Bove points out, the average total compensation of the top 15 sports figures was $40m per year. Meanwhile the top non-financial execs received a paltry $39m on average, and the top 15 financial execs received a gut-wrenching $30m. Stop. Our hearts are breaking.
Here’s Bove’s conclusion:
Not shown is that the average basketball player in the NBA makes $5 million per year and the average baseball player in MLB makes $3 million. The average employee at Goldman Sachs (GS/180.91/Buy) is estimated to make $800,000 this year.
One might argue that sports leagues are government sponsored oligopolies. As a result of restraning trade in this fashion, government allows sports figures to earn incomes at the peak of American industry. One might also argue that by establishing trade restraints in this sector, government believes that entertainment should be valued more highly than the financial and productive sectors of the economy where restraint of trade is illegal.
This information is being provided because government is apparently now seeking to place income restraints on the financial sector, presumably, because it believes that allocating funds to this sector is not as productive for the economy as say being a shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, or a third baseman for the New York Yankees . . .
Clearly Goldman Sachs employees are in the wrong profession then.
Goldman FC, anyone?
Related links:
Wanna be a baller, shot caller – Biggie Smalls, YouTube