Hedge fund salaries soar amid weak performance

The notion that hedge fund managers are the new Masters of the Universe has been bandied about. For confirmation, just look at their salaries. Last year,  Edward Lampert of ESL Investments earned $1 billion, according to Alpha magazine, putting him at the top of the pay totem. The average manager on Institutional Investor's list of the top 25 money makers earned $251 million in 2004 versus $136 million 2001. The money is flowing, no doubt. According to The New York Times, some are starting to wonder what effect this will have on incentives and performance, which has been nothing to brag about recently.

> Here's the New York Times article.