Forty Miiiillion Dollars . . .

No matter how many times you read about Compensation Day (that’s close to but different from Evacuation Day, which for New Yorkers falls on November 25), when Wall Street year-end bonuses are doled out, it never ceases to amaze me just how much money these fuckers get paid. The bonus pool at Goldman Sachs this year is estimated to be as much as $11 billion — for an average of $500,000 per employee.

This year, New York Magazine takes it one further, explaining the pecking order of bonuses and how every year some at Goldman Sachs actually feel shafted by their package:

In Goldman’s offices around the globe, but especially inside the gilded walls of 85 Broad Street, the annual bonus dance is about to reach its climax. On the day they’re told their numbers, those who are richly rewarded will do their best to contain the feeling that comes along with being $2 million, $10 million, or even $40 million richer. And what of those who get the shaft? “They try to be professional,” says the former EMD [executive managing director]. “Although you can see from their trembling lips or the intensity of their stare that they’re disappointed. They’ll go out to their station, slam a few things down, grab their coat, and walk out. Some of them won’t come back for several days.” At which point, it will nearly be 2006, with the meter running on next year’s bonus.

Look, if you’ve somehow found yourself in a position in life where you’ve made billions speculating on crude oil, then you’re probably worth a $40 million bonus — what’s really impressive here is the money they cough up for just showing up (even if “showing up” means working until 3 or 4 in the morning most nights):

Goldman also pays its supporting cast handsomely. Bankers whose jobs consist merely of pitching the capabilities of other people at the firm can make as much as your average NFL starter. “The amazing thing about Goldman,” says a hedge-fund executive who does business with the firm, “it’s not that a few talented people make $20 million — it’s all the mediocre talents that make over $1 million.”