PJT probably won't pay its "outstanding people" $1m this year, after all
As far as boutique investment banks go, pay is good, and has always been good. Evercore is on track to pay $1.2m per head in 2026, for example, up from $829k in 2024 and $973k in 2025. Pay at PJT Partners has been even better historically – so surely it’s paying even better, right? Right?
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Not right. PJT Partners did not have a great Q3, with revenue down by 14% in the quarter compared to Q3 of 2025. The first nine months of 2026 were still up on the first nine of 2025, however.
As such, compensation was down in the third quarter. Based on how much has been paid so far to the firm’s employees, pay per head for the year should come out to a rather measly $950k. The total compensation figure is still up on 2025 in the first nine months of the year, but not massively – and if 2026’s Q4 compensation bill simply matches 2025’s, then pay will have decreased to $929k. It needs a very strong end to the year to reach the coveted (by someone) $1m figure.
The firm has added headcount in the meantime. There are now 1,314 people employed at the boutique, up from 1,224 at the start of the year, 1,229 at the three-month-mark, and 1,234 at the six-month-mark. That increase probably has something to do with the huge number of internship applications PJT received this year, some of which likely became members of its graduate program.
One place where headcount has certainly declined, however, is the number of dealmakers that the firm employs. Its partner headcount rose from 133 at the start of the year to 141 at the end of Q1 to 142 at the end of Q2. It’s now just 140.
Luckily for founder & CEO Paul Taubman, people still like working for him. “Outstanding people with strong intellectual curiosity, passion and empathy,” one of the bank’s employees said in PJT’s investor presentation. It’s also what they said at the start of the year, so take that as you will – although they did also mention “humor” then.
Taubman himself also repeated, in his commentary on the Q3 results, a phrase he used earlier this year: “we remain highly confident in our future growth prospects.” Perhaps consistency in opinion is part of the firm’s values.
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