Kamal Ghorui
Jane Street Group’s journey to the top of Wall Street has been a lucrative ride for its workforce. The firm doled out $9.38 billion in compensation last year — more than double the amount in 2024 — as the market maker vaulted past its biggest Wall Street rivals, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified citing private information.Jane Street’s rise has been a boon for the employees and shareholders that have tagged along. On a per-employee basis, that equates to $2.68 million on average — almost seven times as much as rival Goldman Sachs. The market-making firm has become a giant in a corner of finance, helping to facilitate trades in assets from stocks to corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds. The company pulled in about $39.6 billion in trading revenue last year — a haul that outranked Wall Street banks and market-making peers.Jane Street’s members’ equity — or the firepower the company uses to support its trading operations without having to tap outside capital — has swelled nearly 2,000% since 2016 to $45 billion.That funding provides a steady foundation for the firm to use by capitalising on market swings and piling into startups at early stages. It’s also helped Jane Street score big on bets on Anthropic, the AI startup that’s received offers for a new funding round that would value the company at about $800 billion or more. Jane Street also has more capacity it can tap thanks to loans, as well as bonds it issued in the public debt market.A representative for Jane Street declined to comment.Jane Street has been able to maintain its lead despite facing controversy in recent years. For example, in July, regulators in India accused the firm of manipulating markets while running what had once been one of its most lucrative trading strategies.Jane Street has denied those allegations.(BLOOMBERG)
