Goldman Sachs paid a smaller portion of its revenue to employees in 2012 as it laid off staff, signaling that management at the top Wall Street bank may be listening to shareholders demanding higher returns.
Reuters reports that the investment bank and asset manager said fourth-quarter earnings nearly tripled as it set aside less of its revenue for pay and earned more from trading.
For the full year, employees were paid just 37.9% of the bank's revenue, the second-lowest proportion since Goldman went public in 1999.
'Quite simply, we don't look to overpay anybody', said Harvey Schwartz, a Goldman Sachs trading executive who will become the bank's chief financial officer at the end of this month.
Even if a smaller share of revenue went to employees, Goldman Sachs managed to increase average employee pay last year because it laid off staff and took in more revenue. In other words, the bank's employees were more productive, but much of the benefit went to shareholders.
Hit the link below to access the complete Reuters article:
Goldman boosts returns to shareholders through layoffs
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