Goldman Sachs, pegged as the most successful investment bank that was able to stand up against the global recession, announced its recent earnings results. Investment banks like Goldman Sachs are said to have big bonuses for its employees most especially for its executives.

According to its recent earnings announcement, Goldman Sachs on Thursday reported earnings of $13.4 billion and a compensation pool of $16.2 billion for 2009. 76 percent of Goldman Sachs’s revenue came from trading and principal investments.

For the fourth quarter 2009 alone, Goldman reported earnings of $4.95 billion, or $8.20 a share, on revenues of $9.62 billion. The results far exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The compensation pool — which includes salary and benefits but is largely for year-end bonuses — translates to an average payout of $498,246 to be exact per employee. That compares with an average pay of $316,928 a year earlier and is down from the record $661,490 in 2007.

Goldman Sachs set an all-time high for a Wall Street securities firm in 2007 when Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, 55, was awarded a $67.9 million bonus in cash and stock and the firm allocated $20.2 billion to pay employees.

Goldman Sachs, which set a Wall Street pay record in 2007, has been criticized by politicians, labor unions and some shareholders for setting aside near-record compensation and bionuses this year after getting taxpayer aid during the financial crisis.

In response, the company subtracted $519 million in the fourth quarter from the compensation fund set aside during the year and instead made donations to a firm philanthropy.

You can find below a table from Bloomberg that compares the salary and bonuses of the two investment banks – JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs is truly a dream company for many. I myself wishes to be in that company given the chance. As I have a background in investment banking, I may have a chance.