The Race to Become Partner – WSJ.com

In June, top executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. began compiling lists of candidates for one of Wall Street’s most exclusive clubs—the 300 or so “partners” who take home a big chunk of the firm’s profits.

It’s one of the business world’s most lucrative and secret sweepstakes: Goldman’s selection of its elite “partner managing directors,” or PMDs. It dates back to Goldman’s roots as a private partnership, in the days when that’s how big Wall Street firms were run. Goldman went public in 1999. But every two years, in an effort to retain the clubby culture of old, Goldman anoints about 100 PMDs. Being inducted is considered a ticket to huge riches.

“On Wall Street, this club is the endgame and it is the best corporate motivation tool I have ever seen,”......

Goldman will announce on Oct. 25 its new class of partners, who will join the 287 who currently hold that title. Last year, that group shared more than $2 billion, or about 20% of the total compensation Goldman paid to its more than 25,000 employees world-wide, according to people familiar with the matter. That averages out to about $7 million per partner.