Hedge funds are a very diverse group: from small shops managing tens of millions to the large funds managing tens of billions. The very good ones probably make

Hedge funds are a very diverse group: from small shops managing tens of millions to the large funds managing tens of billions. The very good ones probably make around 20% a year (meaning that they earn around $40M per year per $1B that’s under management). HFT companies are a different story. The biggest ones make around $1B/year (e.g Virtu, Flow Traders which are public), with a few of them even bigger. There are many tier two companies making tens - few hundred million dollars per year. So none of them are really big (compared, to say, a big bank), but they do make a lot of money per employee, and the salaries reflect that.