Yet more millionaires in the City thanks to an IPO may be normal, but Bridgepoint’s signing-on bonuses jar with scrutiny duty
Some 166 millionaires were created in the City on Wednesday. Well, strictly speaking, the fortunes of the investment professionals at the private equity firm Bridgepoint were not “created” in a single stroke. Rather, the act of listing the firm on the stock exchange crystallised the value of shares they already owned and allowed them to flog a few.
But, however you view the numbers in this £2.88bn flotation, or IPO, they illustrate how private equity is challenging investment banking for the status of best-paid gig in the financial game.
