Our best friend was offered an associate position with KKR yesterday. He will be working either in San Francisco or New York City. My brother claims that his starting salary will be around 500 grand, and he's bragging to the entire world about it. Our friend has not told us anything. He didn't even tell us he got the job. He told his parents, who told their friends, who told their kids, and it somehow got to my brother. I personally find that unbelievable. I understand private equity is doing very well right now, but this kid is not even 21 years old. I can believe 250 grand, since San Fran and NYC both have very high costs of living. Anyone have a ballpark figure? Or just a summary of what an associate at a large private equity firm does?
Sounds like total BS to me. Especially if he's talking base pay, and not some sort of insane, unattainable bonus program. The only industry that pays that kind of money to a 21 year old employee is sports and entertainment. Few surgeons or attorneys make that kind of money with years of education and experience. In the business world, you're talking about being responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business and hundreds of people to make that kind of salary.
private equity is not doing well right now as a matter of fact....ur brother is lying, in this credit crunch market most of the investment banks are laying off people because their profits have plummeted drastically. I would probably say less than half of 500 for an associate seems right, not sure about a true figure.
I will ask him eventually. He rarely ever talks about his personal life (girls, job, school, etc). He's one of those super-secretive guys.
He's not an i-banker. He's doing PRIVATE equity, as an associate, with KKR, a top 5 private equity firm in the world.
That sounds like BS to me. I am not sure about private equity, but I know investment banks do not pay that much to first year analysts. Usually it is about 75k starting salary plus 50k-90k bonus. This is after working an average of 80-100 hours a week.
My sister has an MBA from Harvard. I think some of her classmates were signing contracts with companies for that kind of money, but it was more like 3 years, $500k. Not $500k per year.
My brother's claim is that the position our friend got is the same position that Harvard and Stanford MBA's vie for. This kid beat them out for it. We're talking 26, 27 year old MBA's (apparently KKR only recruits from Harvard and Stanford Business Schools). I smelled BS as soon as I heard my brother calling his friends. I'm sure our bud got a heck of a job with its perks, but once again, my estimate would be no more than 250 grand.
If he did in fact get an MBA-level job at KKR, during private equity's heyday he might have been in the 300-400k range, including bonus. Private equity has been grabbing their ankles and on the receiving end of a 12 foot aluminum pole due to the recent financial meltdown, so his bonus isn't going to be nearly as lucrative as it might have been in the 2004-2006 timeframe he's going to be working his azz off, that's for sure it's an incredibly sought after job and company, though, so he definitely is doing something right
So, what you're saying is that your best friend is 20 years old, graduated from either Harvard or Stanford with a Bachlors degree, and he just beat out MBA students from Harvard and Stanford? I find all of the above very hard to believe. I'm actually looking at MBA schools myself and for 2007, the starting average salary + bonus is around $135,000 for first year MBA graduates. This is actually from the 2009 US News issue that just came out.
He will actually graduate from Wharton undergrad with another degree from Penn's engineering school (he took the crappy engineering, like operations or something like that). He just finished an internship program with KKR and was offered the job. KKR supposedly only recruits Harvard or Stanford MBA's.
Ah the M&T program...yeah it's a pretty bad ass program and will help you get some kick ass jobs. Even as a 1st year MBA level position, I find it hard to believe he would be making 500k. From when I worked in private equity several years ago, pre-MBA associates with a couple of years of work experience in banking, etc. could expect to clear around 200k after bonuses. So given the current market, to say 500k just seems ridiculous - even for a 1st year post MBA. KKR is one of the best brands in the game, and frankly they don't have to pay the best to attract the best talent, so I don't know if they would pay some super premium to get a college kid - even if its from my alma mater!
I find it very hard to believe that an undergrad from UPenn would get paid that much. The few UPenn graduates who went straight to work from undergrad that I know when to firms like Goldman and Morgan Stanley where they made about 100K right off the bat. But they were posted in NYC where cost of living is much higher. KKR is one of the best PE firms out there, but in a time of shrinking PE due to lack of liquidity (credit crunch) it seems a stretch for someone of his credentials to be making that kind of money. PE peaked about a year and a half ago. Seems like an implausible situation, unless of course your friend really wowed them during his internship and was able to contribute something of deep value. People who go to UPenn/Wharton can do those sorts of things. They are a cut above most college grads. I also know a few Harvard Business School attendees and graduates and they have been telling me the job offers for them right now haven't been all that amazing as compared to year's past.
KKR is probably the most well known PE house, but 500k seems a bit much even if you include potential bonuses Wharlton school of business from my understanding (as an australian) is the top, if not top 3 business schools in the US?
Hey I'm in M&T right now too, and I'm going to be a junior next year. To be honest, I've never heard of any alumni from my program getting that much money to start out with... If you tell me his name, I can probably find out a lot about him =D
If this was a post-bschool position, then yes, very believable (although all-in comp would be that much, not just salary). But if this is straight out of undergrad, then no. Even if he's including carried interest (which he probably doesn't get at that level), then it's high.
I agree. It's not my field, but I'm going to ask a good friend of mine if this guy could be making these dollars without coming out of an MBA program. Sounds like one of those situations where someone told someone else and that person told someone else and so on, until the truth, while still very impressive, got blown out of proportion.
