• Recruiting firm Prospect Rock Partners surveyed over 900 bankers, from boutiques to bulge brackets.
• BI obtained some of the results, including how much bankers in varying groups and levels made.
• See which titles and coverage areas saw the biggest pay bumps in 2024 as dealmaking rebounded.

Psst! How much was your bonus?

On Wall Street, your end-of-year paycheck can often indicate your standing at work. Yet, knowing where your bonus pay ranks compared to peers is not so simple.

In an effort to shed some light on Wall Street pay trends, recruiting firm Prospect Rock Partners surveyed more than 900 investment bankers about their 2024 salaries and bonuses.

The survey was conducted between December 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025 using Prospect Rock's banking industry contacts. It's the third year Meridith Dennes, the firm's managing partner, has conducted it.

"It's always been so cryptic," Dennes told Business Insider about the Wall Street compensation structure. "The whole point of the survey is that compensation is much more nuanced than what people talk about."

Survey respondents included bankers from all ranks, from analysts up to vice presidents and managing directors, and across a multitude of coverage groups, and firms.

Prospect Rock Partners gave BI permission to publish select slides from its full survey. The results shared here suggest that so-called elite boutique banks (think Evercore, Lazard, and Centerview) saw total compensation increases of between 11% to 68% across all roles. Total pay for associates at elite boutiques rose an average of 31% for first-year associates and 33% for second-year associates. Managing director compensation at elite boutiques jumped from about $1 million in 2023 to over $1.7 million in 2024, an increase of 68%.

These bonus insights come as Wall Street waits with bated breath to see whether the M&A rebound many industry experts predicted for 2025 will fully materialize or fizzle out.

"There's so much uncertainty — geopolitical risk, the impact on the private sector of DOGE cuts, tariffs, and the interest rate environment — which can cause a lot of turmoil in the market," Dennes said.

The investment banking hiring surge that started at the end of 2024 continues, however, Dennes said.

"I, as a recruiter, am seeing an increase in job requisitions coming in, but it's much harder to find talent than what people want," she said. "More companies who haven't used recruiters in the last two years are coming out of the woodwork now."

2024 compensation overview

This portion of the survey gives the average 2024 compensation for survey respondents at all investment banking levels.

The most junior employees — first-year analysts — averaged a base pay of more than $110,000. The data also suggests that most analysts earned a bonus that equaled about 50% of their base pay in 2024.

Higher-level bankers —  vice presidents and up — generally earned bonuses equal to or higher than their base pay. The biggest gains went to group heads, who are usually managing directors and partners. They saw average bonuses of more than $1.7 million.

What bulge-brackets are paying associates

Bulge-bracket firms are the largest banks, which tend to handle the biggest deals and, therefore, have the largest investment banking teams. These firms tend to include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup.

Associates are the second-most junior rank at an investment bank after analysts. This chart shows that associate-level survey respondents who work at bulge brackets earned between $176,000 and $221,000 in base pay for 2024. They reported higher bonuses in 2024 over 2023.

What middle-market banks are paying associates

Middle-market bankers tend to focus on smaller clients, often those with annual revenue of under $1 billion. This cohort included banks like William Blair, Piper Sandler, Oppenheimer, and Baird, Dennes said.

The average 2024 base pay for associate bankers at these firms was lower than at bulge brackets — but not by very much. The average 2024 bonus for each position was even more for this cohort than for survey respondents who work at bulge brackets.

What 'elite boutiques' are paying associates

Associate-level bankers who work at "elite boutiques" take the cake for the highest average 2024 base pay and bonus, reporting higher numbers than their peers at bulge brackets and middle-market firms.

Elite boutiques are considered the top-tier boutique banks that can compete with the big firms. In 2024, Evercore, Centerview, and Lazard, for example, snagged top 10 positions on the league tables for both global and US M&A advice, according to M&A tracker LSEG.

Survey respondents from this group work at firms like Evercore, Centerview, Lazard, PJT Partners, and Moelis.

More details on 'elite boutique' pay

These banks tend to focus solely on investment banking versus larger firms, which may have consumer banking and asset management services. Some boutiques also focus on deals within a specific sector, like media, telecom, or healthcare.

That means they often have stronger execution abilities, said Dennes, and therefore higher fee income per banker on their leaner teams.

"One of the most significant findings is the clear correlation between increased compensation in 2024 and recovering deal volumes," she wrote in an overview section of the survey's findings. "This recovery appears most pronounced at elite boutiques, where compensation is directly tied to deal performance and revenue generation."

Pay by industry group in 2023 & 2024

Second-year associates, whose 2024 comp is described in this section of the survey results, are bankers who have been in the field for anywhere from two to five years, depending on whether they started in investment banking as an analyst or were hired out of an MBA program.

The largest group of respondents in this group described themselves as as M&A generalists. The survey says this cohort averaged $187,000 in base pay and about $134,000 in bonus last year.

Others well-paid associates in this group worked in business services, restructuring, and DCM.

Some overall comp is down from years ago

The report shows how average comp has changed since 2022. In some cases, it wasn't for the better, like for vice presidents and managing directors.

For context, global dealmaking hit more than $3.16 trillion in 2024, which is up 10% over 2023, but still lower than 2022 volumes of $3.45 trillion, according to deals tracker LSEG.

• In a Deloitte survey, 26% of leaders said their organizations were seriously exploring autonomous agents.
• ServiceNow, SAP, and Salesforce are among the firms that have debuted AI agents to do work tasks.
• This article is part of "AI in Action," a series exploring how companies are implementing AI innovations.

When clients of the cloud-based-software provider ServiceNow contact the company's customer support center, 80% of the cases — in the form of calls and chat messages — are handled without any human intervention.

Instead, the company relies on analytical and generative artificial intelligence — in the form of AI agents — to address common customer questions.

Chris Bedi, ServiceNow's chief customer officer and enterprise-AI advisor, said employees still handle one out of every five customer-support requests.

They're getting new support from agentic AI, which can automate tasks such as drafting a response email to a customer. Workers remain in the loop for a final sign-off before any agentic-AI actions are executed. The combination of human workers and agentic AI shrank the amount of time it took to handle the more complex cases by 52% in a two-week period, ServiceNow said.

OpenAI's cofounder Sam Altman and other leading technologists have said that 2025 will be the year that AI agents "join" the workforce.

In addition to ServiceNow, software developers such as Salesforce and SAP have rolled out their own agentic-AI platforms. These can perform workplace tasks such as processing customer invoices, providing customer support to clients, and drafting emails. The business software giant Intuit, which owns TurboTax and QuickBooks, began rolling out agentic-AI capabilities in December.

Humans mostly remain in the loop for now, but vendors anticipate this technology will become fully autonomous. Multiagent systems, where two or more AI agents collaborate to complete work, will proliferate.

"Agents are the next level of understanding around how you apply AI," Jim Rowan, the head of AI at the consultancy Deloitte, said. "It can perform actions for you."

In a recent Deloitte survey of 2,773 business leaders, 26% of respondents said their organizations were exploring autonomous agents to a "large or very large extent."

Why AI agents have become the new focus for generative AI

For the first two years of the generative-AI boom — which kicked off after the debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022 — most businesses that adopted the technology scaled it to power chatbots and complete routine tasks like drafting meeting summaries. AI agents represent an evolution of generative-AI technology, built to complete tasks autonomously, though most are still monitored closely by workers.

Agentic AI "actually possesses some unique skills around reasoning, planning, and orchestration," Bedi told Business Insider. "These agents can collaborate with each other and really start to deliver on the promise of work happening autonomously."

Buzz for AI agents kicked into high gear after Salesforce debuted Agentforce in September to automate tasks in customer support, sales, and marketing. The company has said it will roll out 1 billion agents to customers by the end of this year. The company also reported that more than 340,000 of its customer support questions had been answered autonomously with Agentforce.

ServiceNow estimates that the company's AI agents, already deployed in various parts of the business, such as customer service, human resources, and IT, are driving an estimated $325 million in annualized value by bolstering workplace productivity by 20%. ServiceNow says AI-agent-supported work saves 400,000 labor hours annually.

Still, technology companies are in the early stages of their agentic-AI development. Many are figuring out which processes they can fully automate with the technology. As a result, company leaders implementing agentic AI are training their workers to collaborate with — and provide feedback on — their new "coworkers."

AI agents are often developed as worker-collaboration tools

John Kucera, the senior vice president of product management at Salesforce, recommended that businesses be transparent about what work AI agents can handle and what will remain with workers. He added that businesses should be clear about what an AI agent actually is, saying that not all agentic systems are equal.

"There's a lot of false agents out there," Kucera said. "It's only an agent when you're taking a request and the agent is figuring out what to do and then what data to put in."

While surveys frequently find that many workers worry that AI will replace them, technologists say AI agents won't replace people but assume responsibility for mundane tasks.

"These agents are going to help me do my job, but at no point will they make me do something I'm not aware of," said Walter Sun, the global head of AI at SAP, which sells software for financial, supply chain, and other business management needs. "The most important thing is that the employees are always in control."

How companies are tailoring AI agents with employee feedback

To ensure workers have a voice in how AI agents are developed, SAP encourages employees across its various business lines — including the travel- and expense-management provider Concur and SuccessFactors, which provides HR, payroll, and talent management software — to use an internal online form to reach out to the AI team and propose compelling agentic use cases.

At Intuit, the AI-powered financial assistant Intuit Assist can get businesses paid 45% faster by detecting past-due invoices and automatically drafting a personalized reminder note. After a business owner approves the note's language and sends it out, they are paid, on average, five days sooner than with a human-only process, Intuit Assist said.

But before Inuit Assist takes action, humans have the final say. "What we're trying to do is have the right human-automation interaction," Ashok Srivastava, Intuit's chief data officer, said.

Intuit has embraced a robust AI-training program, focused on responsible AI and what the technology can and cannot do, and built a "sandbox" called GenStudio that allows employees to interact with large language models in a secure environment. The company has also developed educational programs tailored to senior executives, directors, and engineers. "It's very pervasive across the company," Srivastava added.

Asana, which makes work-management software, launched AI agents in October, focusing on a few functions, including marketing, IT, HR, and research and development. Rather than track a specific number of actions that agentic AI takes over, Asana monitors the types of work that can be automated, eliminating the drudgery of busy work to allow employees to focus on more complex tasks.

The company is also keeping a close eye on which tasks AI systems get wrong compared with people. In cybersecurity, human errors tend to occur later in the day, when workers are tired after a long shift. AI doesn't get tired, but it is susceptible to hallucinations — or when an AI model generates a response that is misleading or false information but nonetheless presents it as fact. For example, Asana's AI agent might respond to certain questions by suggesting tasks that are, in reality, nonexistent to a particular workflow.

"The kinds of errors we see are different, so the way we fix them needs to be different," Asana's chief information security officer, Sean Cassidy, said. He said the company conducts automated tests to detect hallucinations and improve the product when they occur.

For AI agents to create a compelling return on investment for the companies that implement them, Deloitte's Rowan said, workers should be tasked with frequently checking on simple automated tasks before any agentic AI actions are taken.

If businesses want to see big returns on their agentic AI investment, they need to place AI at the center of their work model, and then consider how humans will engage with the work, Rowan said. If not, "the savings really won't be there," he added.

ServiceNow's Bedi said the success of AI agents depends on companies nailing three factors: New agentic capabilities should be developed for each department and its specific needs, unique training plans should be designed for every part of the business — like finance, marketing, and sales — and the value and return on of agentic workflows should be closely monitored.

"The companies that combine all three of those ingredients are going to have a competitive advantage," Bedi said.

• Antoine Sallis was rejected for a car loan because his credit score was 378.
• About a decade later, he was a millionaire.
• He repaired his credit and used debt to build wealth.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Antoine Sallis, author of "The Great American Credit Secret: Part 2." It has been edited for length and clarity.

The best thing that ever happened to my finances felt like the worst thing possible at the time. I was in my late 20s, working as a sales rep at Teen Mobile. I was proud of that job and felt like I was making moves. My next step was to get a decent car, better than the $300 cars from Craigslist that I'd driven in the past.

One day, I walked by a dealership with a sign that said, "Your job is your credit." I took that to mean that as long as I had a job, I could get approved for a loan. I already knew I'd have to go somewhere lenient to get a car loan, but this seemed perfect. I didn't think I had any credit, but I definitely had a job.

To make the purchase even more of a slam dunk, I saved a $500 down payment and picked the cheapest car on the lot, which cost about $9,000. I strolled in to apply, filling out the long paper application. I waited for about 20 minutes. Then, the sales rep came out, barely containing his laugh. He told me my credit score was 378 — so low that I was an exception to their rule, and they couldn't give me a loan despite my job.

I learned about the potential of responsible debt

I walked out of there feeling dejected. I'd been planning to drive off that lot. On my bus ride home, I started thinking about credit, which I knew basically nothing about.

I got tunnel vision, and started to learn everything I could about credit. I started with books and videos. Later, I called people who worked in finance, offering them $60 to answer my questions for 30 minutes.

I cleaned up my own credit, which started with understanding why it was so bad. Once I pulled my credit report, I saw I had unresolved accounts I didn't even know about and student loans with late payments. I started paying my debts on time to build a positive credit history. Soon, people began asking me to help them understand theirs.

As I learned more, I realized credit could be an incredible tool. Once my credit score was better, I took loans to invest in real estate. Most people think debt is bad. But I realized debt can give an opportunity: if you can take out a loan and triple your money over the life of the loan, that's a win.

My mindset made me a millionaire

When I embraced that mindset, things started changing rapidly for me. I started a credit repair company and continued to invest in real estate. By 2020, my company was doing very well, and I was a millionaire. Today I'm 42, and I'm a multimillionaire with a 780 credit score.

In addition to learning about credit and debt, I've seen that your mindset can make a huge difference in your outcomes. Some people in my life are constantly looking for a handout, and they're stuck in a mindset of believing they can't do things. I used to be that way, but I changed.

I became a millionaire in my mind before I ever became one at the bank, because I adopted a strong mindset. I became focused and driven.

I pay for my son's college and give him an allowance

The importance of mindset is what I want my son, who is 18, to take from my story. I can see he's learned that lesson. He used to have C's and D's on his report card, but since he moved in with me, he's a straight-A student. He's about to graduate, and I'm rewarding his hard work by paying for college.

Throughout high school I gave my son a generous allowance, with the expectation that he'd keep his grades up. I pay for everything he needs, but if he wants money to hang out with friends, he knows that's his responsibility. He's seen my financial transformation, and I've talked with him since he was 10 about the importance of credit. Today, I think he knows more about credit than most people, and he even helps with my business teaching others about building their credit.

Now, I have good enough credit to drive luxury cars

That day when I was rejected for a car loan, I laughed along with the salesman. But really, it was no laughing matter. Today, I have multiple luxury cars, which I love. The Lamborghini Gallardo is probably my favorite, though my Bentley is really comfortable.

I want people to know that no matter how dismal your financial situation feels, you can change it. Leveraging credit and debt is a hidden avenue for people who didn't grow up wealthy to build their financial security. You can access more and more, as long as you do it responsibly.

• Welcome to the 6th edition of "The Rainmakers," representing the top 20 investment bankers of 2024.
• These 20 bankers completed some of the year's biggest deals, based on data assembled by MergerLinks.
• This year's list marks the first time a woman, Anu Aiyengar of JPMorgan, took the top spot.

If you were to describe dealmaking in 2024, you might say it's the year Wall Street got its swagger back.

US companies announced over $1.43 trillion in deals last year, the highest amount since 2021, when a dealmaking frenzy resulted in a record $2.51 trillion in US M&A activity, according to deals tracker LSEG. The uptick — combined with signs of economic growth and a more relaxed approach to regulations under the Trump administration — has led some industry leaders to suggest that the M&A freeze that started in 2022 might finally be coming to an end.

"There's a lot of pent-up energy in capital markets, particularly around the financial-sponsor community, and that will be unleashed," David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said at a financial-industry conference in February. "I am very confident we will get back to 10-year averages" in historical dealmaking contexts, said, adding: "This year could be one of those times."

Bankers have good reason to be hopeful: There were 96 megadeals, or deals over $5 billion, announced globally last year — the most since 2021, according to LSEG. Such deals are the lifeblood of the biggest investment banks as they can generate hundreds of billions in fees for firms. Last year's M&A activity generated advisory fees of about $33.4 billion, a 7% increase from roughly $31.3 billion the year before, LSEG said.

Some of the multibillion-dollar tie-ups facilitated by the battle-hardened M&A bankers on this year's list included the nearly $36 billion sale of food manufacturer Kellanova to the snack brand Mars and the $26 billion takeover of Endeavor Energy Resources by rival Diamondback Energy.

To find out which bankers helped their firms benefit from last year's boom, Business Insider partnered with MergerLinks, a UK-based data provider that reviews M&A performance, to present the sixth annual edition of "The Rainmakers," a list of the top-20 investment bankers ranked by overall transaction volume, in the US.

This is the first year a woman — Anu Aiyengar of JPMorgan — has snagged the No. 1 spot. It's also the first time more than one woman has made the ranking, which is based on volumes of deals announced in the US.

Aiyengar, JPMorgan's global head of mergers and acquisitions, was joined by Lily Mahdavi, who was recently promoted to cohead of M&A in the Americas at Morgan Stanley.

It's Aiyengar's fourth appearance. Other repeat names include Suhail Sikhtian, who leads Goldman's natural-resources practice; Blair Effron, a co-founder of the elite-boutique investment bank Centerview; and Stephan Feldgoise, Goldman Sachs' head of M&A.

More notable, perhaps, are the unusually high number of new faces — including Mahdavi and her fellow Morgan Stanley dealmaker, Steve Munger. Also new to the list are Centerview's Todd Davison, Jefferies' Conrad Gibbins, and Xavier Loriferne of JPMorgan Chase. In total, nearly 50% of the members on this year's list — nine names — are making their inaugural debut, MergerLinks said.

The 2024 list also marks the first time a Jefferies banker has made the top 20.

MergerLinks tracks publicly announced deals and calculates deal values on a net basis, including both equity and debt components. To make the individual league table, a banker must have been the lead advisor on either side of a transaction.

Deal sizes are sourced from MergerLinks and public press releases and include the target company's net debt. The transaction values are converted from British pounds to US dollars at the average 2024 exchange rate. As a result, some deal prices announced in dollars throughout the year may not match up.

Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan Chase

Title: Global head of M&A

Number of deals: 14

Value of deals: $83.2 billion

Aiyengar became JPMorgan's solo head of mergers and acquisitions in 2023, but has been with the bank since 2002. She is routinely cited as one of the financial-services industry's most powerful and influential female leaders. She has appeared on the list three times in the past.

Her 2024 deals included:

• Advised Intel in its $11 billion joint venture with Apollo Global Management tied to semiconductor development.
• Advised the private-equity firm Bain Capital in its $4.5 billion acquisition of Envestnet, a tech company focused on wealth management.

• Advised Rio Tinto, a global mining organization, its $6.7 billion acquisition of the chemicals firm Arcadium Lithium.

  ---

  Stephan Feldgoise, Goldman Sachs

  

  Title: Global head of M&A

  Number of deals: 7

  Value of deals: $78.2 billion

  Feldgoise was named Goldman's global head of mergers and acquisitions following a management reshuffle of its investment-banking division in January. Feldgoise was previously cohead of M&A and has also led the investment bank's consumer and retail coverage group. He joined the firm in 1997 and became a partner in 2008.This is his second time on the list, with his first appearance being two years ago.

  His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Pactiv Evergreen, a food industry manufacturer, in its all-cash sale for $6.7 billion to the packaging firm Novolex.
• Advised Ito Kogyo in its $47 billion acquisition of Seven & I Holdings, a retail firm that operates convenience stores in Japan.

• Advised the data center firm AirTrunk in its roughly $15 billion sale to the private-equity firm Blackstone.

  ---

George Boutros, Qatalyst Partners

Title: CEO

Number of deals: 7

Value of deals: $76.2 billion

Boutros is the CEO of the tech-focused investment bank Qatalyst. Previously, he was a senior banker at Credit Suisse, where he served as chairman of both the global technology and healthcare groups. Qatalyst says he has completed more than 700 transactions of various types over the years. This is his fourth year in a row on the Rainmakers list.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised R1 RCM, which provides billing and financial tech to healthcare providers, on its nearly $9 billion sale to investment firms TowerBrook and CD&R.
• Advised Ansys, a design and engineering software company, on its $35 billion sale to Synopsys.
• Advised Hewlett Packard Enterprise on its all-cash acquisition of IT networking provider Juniper Networks for $14 billion.

Steve Munger, Morgan Stanley

Title: Chairman of global M&A

Number of deals: 5

Value of deals: $74.2 billion

Munger has been a Morgan Stanley banker for nearly 40 years and chairman of its M&A group for two decades. This is Munger's first time on the Rainmakers list.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Discover on its $35.3 billion all-stock sale to rival credit card giant Capital One.
• Advised Truist Financial on the sale of 80% of its insurance subsidiary to an investor consortium for $12.4 billion.
• Advised Marathon Oil on its $22.5 billion sale to ConocoPhillips.

Xavier Loriferne, JPMorgan Chase

Title: Managing director, head of FIG M&A, co-head of media & communications M&A

Number of deals: 10

Value of deals: $70.9 billion

Loriferne joined JPMorgan in 2006. This marks Loriferne's first time on the Rainmakers list.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised on the $12 billion sale of HPS Investment Partners to the asset manager BlackRock.
• Advised on the $13.4 billion merger of the real-estate investment trust Uniti with telecommunications and broadband firm Windstream.
• Advised Nippon Life in its $10.6 billion acquisition of the life-insurance firm Resolution Life.

Todd Davison, Centerview

Title: Partner

Number of deals: 4

Value of deals: $63.2 billion

Davison is a partner at Centerview and has been an investment banker for more than 25 years. This is his first time appearing on the list. He joined Centerview in 2013 to cohead its media practice and was previously cohead of North American media coverage at Morgan Stanley. Centerview says he's been involved in more than $300 billion worth of transactions throughout his career.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Verizon on the $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, a rival provider of TV, internet, and phone services.
• Advised Charter Communications on its $17.9 billion acquisition of Liberty Broadband, a data and wireless provider.
• Advised the independent directors of Endeavor, the talent agency and entertainment company, on a take-private sale to Silver Lake, which valued Endeavor at $13 billion.
• Advised entertainment giant Paramount on its $8.4 billion deal to buy production company Skydance Media.

Lily Mahdavi, Morgan Stanley

Title: Cohead of M&A, Americas

Number of deals: 9

Value of deals: $59.6 billion

Mahdavi, who has spent the entirety of her career focused on mergers and acquisitions, joined Morgan Stanley in 2012; she was previously at Deutsche Bank and Citi. She was promoted to co-lead the M&A business in the Americas in early 2025. This is Mahdavi's first time on the Rainmakers list.

Her 2024 deals included:

• Advised Marathon Oil on its $22.5 billion sale to ConocoPhillips.
• Advised insurance brokerage AssuredPartners on its $13.5 billion sale to Arthur J. Gallagher.
• Advised Nippon Paint on its $4.4 billion acquisition of AOC, a chemicals supplier.

Timothy Ingrassia, Goldman Sachs

Title: Co-chairman of global mergers and acquisitions

Number of deals: 8

Value of deals: $59.2 billion

Ingrassia was previously head of Americas M&A at Goldman, a role he held since 2004. Previously, he ran the consumer retail group. He has appeared multiple times on the Rainmakers list, including last year and the year prior.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Kellanova, a snack food manufacturer, in its $35.9 billion sale to the snack producer Mars.
• Advised Oneok, an energy company, in its $2.6 billion acquisition of Medallion Midstream.
• Advised Oneok in its $4.3 billion acquisition of a majority stake in EnLink Midstream, an energy firm.

Chris Gallea, Goldman Sachs

Title: Vice chairman of investment banking

Number of deals: 7

Value of deals: $51.3 billion

This is Gallea's third time on the list. Gallea joined Goldman Sachs from JPMorgan in 2018 after spending nearly two decades there. He has distinguished himself as a leading banker in the industrials sector.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Carrier, a climate and energy solutions company, in the $3 billion of its commercial and residential fire business to the private-equity firm Lone Star.
• Advised Emerson, a technology and software firm, in its $3.5 billion sale of a joint venture, Copeland, to the private-equity firm Blackstone.
• Advised Emerson Electric company, a software and engineering tech firm, in its $7.2 billion purchase of a large minority stake of software company Aspen Technology.

Gary Posternack, Barclays

Title: Chairman of global M&A

Number of deals: 6

Value of deals: $49.8 billion

The long-time global M&A leader moved into a new role as chairman last year so he could spend more time advising Barclays' top clients. Posternack joined the firm in 2008 after it bought Lehman Brothers, his previous firm. He led its natural-resources practice and its M&A takeover defense business. He became head of M&A worldwide in 2014.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised R1 RCM, which provides billing and financial tech to healthcare providers, on its nearly $9 billion sale to investment firms TowerBrook and CD&R.
• Advised Frontier Communications, a provider of TV, internet, and phone services, on its $20 billion sale to Verizon.
• Advised fuel pipeline and storage operator NuStar Energy on its $7.3 billion sale to gas station chain Sunoco.

Suhail Sikhtian, Goldman Sachs

Title: Global head of natural resources investment banking

Number of deals: 3

Value of deals: $45.9 billion

Sikhtian became Goldman's sole head of natural-resources investment banking in 2020. He's been with the firm since 1998, when he started in the energy and power group. He has also worked with European energy companies from London. He made his first appearance on the list last year.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Southwestern Energy on its $11.4 billion acquisition of Chesapeake Energy, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer.
• Advised the energy company Endeavor in its $26 billion sale to Diamondback Energy.
• Advised Schlumberger, an energy tech firm, in its $8 billion acquisition of ChampionX, a maker of pumping equipment.

Chris Ventresca, JPMorgan Chase

Title: Global chairman of investment banking and mergers and acquisitions

Number of deals: 14

Value of deals: $45.1 billion

Ventresca, a three-decade veteran of JPMorgan, has advised on mandates spanning industrials, telecoms, consumer retail, and more. He appeared on the Rainmakers list for the first time last year.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised IBM in its $6.4 billion acquisition of software firm HashiCorp.
• Advised energy firm ALLETE in its $6.2 billion sale to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Global Infrastructure Partners.
• Advised Vizio, a consumer electronics firm, in its $2.3 billion sale to Walmart, the US retailer.

Conrad Gibbins, Jefferies Financial Group

Title: Managing director

Number of deals: 10

Value of deals: $44.5 billion

This year marks Gibbins' first appearance on the list. The banker, who's based in Texas and concentrates on the energy sector, joined Jefferies as an analyst nearly 15 years ago. Since late 2022, he's served as Jefferies' co-head of Upstream in the Americas, and a managing director.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Diamondback Energy, an oil and gas company based in Texas, in its $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor, an energy firm.
• Advised Grayson Mill Energy, a Texas-based energy production firm, in its $5 billion sale to Devon Energy Corporation.
• Advised Franklin Mountain Energy, a Colorado-based oil and gas firm, in its $3.95 billion sale to Coterra Energy.

Drago Rajkovic, JPMorgan Chase

Title: Global chairman, mergers and acquisitions

Number of deals: 5

Value of deals: $43.6 billion

Rajkovic joined JPMorgan from Barclays in 2011 as head of technology mergers and acquisitions and has since risen to serve as a global chairman of M&A at the firm, led by CEO Jamie Dimon (shown above). At Barclays, he led tech M&A as well. It's his first time on the list.

His 2024 deals included:

• Juniper Networks/Hewlett Packard Enterprises
• Advised Squarespace, a custom website-development platform for businesses and entrepreneurs, in its $7.2 billion sale to the private-equity firm Permira.
• Intel Apollo Joint Venture/Intel Corporation

Naveen Nataraj, Evercore

Title: Senior managing director and cohead of US investment banking

Number of deals: 5

Value of deals: $40.8 billion

Nataraj, who has been at Evercore since 2002, is a member of the firm's management committee and a top banker in its technology, media, and telecommunications business. He has advised on more than $600 billion worth of transactions, the company says. His first appearance on the list was in 2022.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Synopsys on its $35 billion acquisition of Ansys, a design and engineering software company.
• Advised private-equity firm Veritas Capital on its acquisition of NCR Voyix's digital banking business for $2.6 billion.
• Advised Gen Digital, a security software company, on its $1 billion acquisition of MoneyLion, a digital banking fintech company.

Dan Ward, Evercore

Title: Senior managing director

Number of deals: 4

Value of deals: $40.1 billion

Ward has advised on more than $450 billion worth of M&A transactions, Evercore says, and is one of the industry's top energy bankers — this is his second year in a row on the Rainmakers list. Before joining Evercore, Ward led the global natural resources investment-banking business at Deutsche Bank.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Chesapeake Energy, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer, on its sale to Southwestern Energy for $11.4 billion.
• Advised Enerplus, an oil and gas producer, on its roughly $4 billion merger with Chord Energy.
• Advised ConocoPhillips on its $22.5 billion acquisition of Marathon Oil.

Riccardo Benedetti, Perella Weinberg Partners

Title: Partner

Number of deals: 2

Value of deals: $38.2 billion

Benedetti has been a senior banker with PWP since 2009, joining from Morgan Stanley, where he started his career in 1991. It's his first time on the list.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Holcim, a Swiss building materials manufacturer, on the $30 billion spinoff of its North American operations.
• Advised German conglomerate Bosch on its $8.1 billion acquisition of the HVAC business unit owned by Johnson Controls and Hitachi.

Adam Taetle, Lazard

Title: Managing director and global head of consumer, retail, and leisure

Number of deals: 2

Value of deals: $37 billion

Taetle is a first-timer on the Rainmakers list, but he's a veteran dealmaker with consumer and retail firms like Campbell's and Keurig Dr Pepper. He started his career with Goldman Sachs in the 1990s and has since held senior leadership roles at Barclays and Evercore, which he joined in 2018 to co-lead its consumer retail group. He left Evercore earlier this year, taking a top role with Lazard in June.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Kellanova, the Pringles and Pop-Tarts snack company formerly known as Kellogg's, on its $35.9 billion sale to Mars
• Advised Siete Foods, which makes tortillas, chips, and salsas, on its $1.2 billion sale to PepsiCo.

Michael J. Freudenstein, PJT Partners

Title: Partner

Number of deals: 2

Value of deals: $35.8 billion

This year marks Freudenstein's first time on the list. He joined PJT in 2017, having previously worked at JPMorgan in various roles. Those positions ranged from deputy head of Americas equity research to JPMorgan's head of market structure and asset management, and an investment banker focused on deals in the financial-services sector, before he left for PJT. The firm was founded by former top Morgan Stanley executive Paul Taubman, shown above.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised Discover, the financial-services firm, in its $35 billion sale to Capital One.
• Advised Victory Capital, an investment manager, in its acquisition of Amundi, a firm offering a variety of financial-services products. Terms were undisclosed.

Blair Effron, Centerview Partners

Title: Co-founder and partner

Number of deals: 5

Value of deals: $34.6 billion

Effron cofounded Centerview in 2006 and built it into an influential name in investment banking, with more than 350 employees in the US and UK. Previously he was a top investment banker at UBS and has advised companies across healthcare, media, consumer and retail, and more. He also appeared on the Rainmakers list in 2019 and 2024.

His 2024 deals included:

• Advised the independent directors of Endeavor, the talent agency and entertainment company, on a take-private sale to Silver Lake, which valued Endeavor at $13 billion.
• Advised production company Skydance Media on its $8.4 billion sale to entertainment giant Paramount.

• Advised Emerson, a technology and engineering conglomerate, on a $7.2 billion deal to acquire the remainder of Aspen Technology, a provider of software for manufacturers that Emerson bought a majority stake of in 2022.

  To see more dealmaker rankings, visit the MergerLinks website. For more on its methodology and criteria, click here.

Reed Alexander is a correspondent at Business Insider and can be reached at [email protected]. Alex Morrell is a senior correspondent and can be reached at [email protected].

• Body recomposition is the process of losing fat while gaining muscle at the same time.
• After a body composition analysis, I worked with a trainer to find exercises to reach my goals.
• I should focus on adding weight and doing shorter, more challenging cardio.

To ring in the new year, I booked a body composition analysis at the athletic club Life Time.

After I got a scan of my muscle mass and body fat, a personal trainer walked me through the results: for optimal health, I needed to lose body fat and gain more muscle.

My main takeaway is that changing my diet is key. I'll get the best results if I maintain a calorie deficit, prioritize whole foods and lots of protein, and drink more water.

The trainer also said that I could update my current workout routine (a mix of cardio and strength training) to be more challenging. He walked me through a personal training session and showed me the exercises I needed to recompose my body.

Focus on strength training

Strength training is the best way to build muscle and burn fat. Because my body composition analysis showed that my legs are generally stronger than my arms, I asked if we could focus more on upper-body exercises.

To strengthen my upper body, I learned how to use machines for pull-ups, rows, and rope pulls.

I also worked on improving my chest press form. My trainer had me hold the barbell in position before I started doing reps so that I could make sure the correct muscles were activated. Otherwise, I won't see much progress and could hurt myself.

His main takeaway was that I should keep track of how much I lift and make sure I'm increasing weight.

He recommended starting with a lighter weight (and higher rep count), slowly increasing my weight, and decreasing my reps as needed per exercise.

That way, I can ensure that I'm progressively overloading and building up muscles rather than plateauing. In addition to the classes I take, I plan to work on upper- and lower-body workouts on my own as well.

Improving my core strength

Pretty much every weightlifting exercise I do involves "activating my core" so that I can stay balanced and secure throughout. My trainer said I should also include core exercises to help support my strength training goals: whether I'm doing a deadlift or a chest press, a strong core is necessary to do them right. Otherwise, I won't see many gains.

One I learned was lying on a box with my head and legs elevated while my back was flat. Holding positions like this for 30 seconds or a minute will gradually increase my core strength.

Try shorter cardio sessions

While I regularly run throughout the week, my trainer said that if I'm not challenging myself and keeping my heart rate up, I'm not actually burning much fat.

Rather than focusing on longer-distance runs where I go at a leisurely pace, he recommended doing shorter, 30-minute cardio sessions at the fastest pace I can tolerate.

Bulking and cutting at the same time is notoriously hard. There's a reason athletes typically focus on either gaining muscle or losing fat at one time. While I'm more focused on cutting, I'm hoping an emphasis on strength training and quicker cardio can help me hit my goals.

• Investment banks are hiring for 2026 summer interns, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
• First-round interviews are underway in some cases, Business Insider has learned.
• Here's how to ace the HireVue screening process and score a competitive Wall Street internship.

The annual race for summer investment-banking internships is kicking off across Wall Street.

Applications for 2026 summer jobs opened earlier this month at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, RBC, Lazard, and Evercore, according to their website career portals. And some banks have already started sending applicants invitations to complete first-round interviews via HireVue, Business Insider has learned.

"It's a little bit like drinking water from a fire hose," said Meridith Dennes, an investment banking recruiter, of the Wall Street internship process. "There's so much stuff — it's really confusing, and it's changing all the time."

HireVue is a job screening tool many banks use to determine which candidates will get invitations for in-person interviews. Dennes said she is coaching some students who recently received invitations to do HireVue interviews, and Wall Street blogs are filling up with posts by aspiring interns seeking insight into the questions they could be asked. Banks that have been known to use the platform include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo.

Landing a summer internship at a leading investment bank is often the starting point for a high-paying and prestigious career on Wall Street, including for those who move on from investment banking to private-equity dealmaking or hedge-fund trading. The process is super competitive. Indeed, Goldman received so many applicants for the 2024 class that its hire rate dropped to under 1% last year.

To score a spot, you must compete with hundreds of thousands of applicants and nail every stage of the process, including the HireVue interview. Goldman Sachs' head of talent acquisition told BI in a 2023 interview that thjope bank uses HireVue to decide who should attend their "Super Day" — an industry-wide phenomenon for interviewing many job candidates in a single setting.

To help applicants ace this screening, BI has compiled tips from industry insiders, including Dennes, Jaylyn Jones, a former campus recruiter for JPMorgan who now works for Duolingo, and Nathan Mondragon of HireVue. They explain how to channel your favorite influencers as a hack for on-camera appeal, how to navigate some of the software's tools, and what questions you can expect to be asked.

How it works

HireVue is a software that conducts and records one-way interviews. The platform will ask you a question, give you a set amount of time to prepare your answer, and then start recording your response. For banks, the interviews will generally consist of four to seven questions, said Dennes.

After you've been asked a question, you will have 20 to 30 seconds to think about and prepare your answer, explained Jones, who helps the language-learning app DuoLingo find students for software engineering and product management roles. HireVue will give you one to three minutes to answer, depending on the question, she added.

"While they can be a little nerve-wracking, on-demand video interviews are a great way to shorten the hiring process and increase fairness so you can start your first day as soon as possible," Mondragon, HireVue's Chief Innovation Officer and IO Psychologist, told BI via email.

Use practice mode

Most HireVue invitations include a practice feature. Use it to familiarize yourself with all the tools and buttons before your interview begins.

"Utilize the practice questions and other preparation tools offered within the interview platform," added Mondragon. "Only you can see your practice recordings, so use them fully."

HireVue's candidate help center explains it like this: "You can access practice questions by clicking the link from your invitation email and following the prompts until presented with the option to 'Try a Practice Question'. This should not start your interview."

You should also practice answering timed questions while recording yourself well before logging into HireVue, Dennes said.

"The best way to prepare for a HireVue is to take a list of standard questions from your school career center or online and then bullet out your answers," she said. "Then run a mock interview process where you use your phone or a stopwatch and you give yourself 30 to 60 seconds to prepare and 90 seconds to answer."

Practicing with a timer is key.

"You will be surprised at how fast 90 seconds go by if you don't know what you're saying," Dennes said, adding: "You'll be cut off and you won't be able to get to the point."

Move fast and be professional

Dennes suggested that candidates aim to submit their interviews within 48 hours of getting the invitation, even if they have a much longer deadline to turn it in. Think of it this way: Banks want to hire people who really want to work for them.

"If you're one of the first people to submit and you're a strong candidate, it shows you have a commitment to this firm," said Dennes.

Dress professionally and make sure you are seated in a professional setting, Jones and Dennes agreed.

"I recently spoke to a client who told me that a kid showed up in a green flannel shirt. No!" Dennes said. She suggested candidates put on a tie, a dress, or a nice sweater. "I don't know why it's not obvious, but it isn't," she added.

Interviewing at home is OK if you can't find a space that's more professional, but make sure it's presentable, said Jones.

"Filming in your dorm room is totally normal," she said. "But we don't want to see alcohol bottles in the back of your videos, especially if you're presumably not of legal drinking age."

If you have a messy bedroom, blur the background. And sit in a real chair, she said.

"I've seen students do HireVues physically in the bed, like, laying down," added Jones. "I've heard some students say 'Oh I thought it was AI so if I just said enough buzzwords no one was going to watch it.'"

Channel your inner influencer

Even if you aren't the type of person to post a reel or TikTok, pretend you are for a few minutes, Jones said. Channel your favorite influencers or pretend you're FaceTiming a friend or family member. There's a way to speak professionally without coming off as mechanical or boring. That's the energy you should aim for, she said — relaxed, relatable, and energetic.

"There's something about just being able to speak naturally," she said. "Yes, I'm talking to a camera and recording it, but it does not have to be this weird robotic, cue-card vibe."

An easy way to keep up your energy is to remember to smile when speaking and raise the pitch of your voice slightly. Tap into the "Hi guys, welcome back to my channel!" energy of YouTube creators, said Jones — without sounding disingenuous or hokey.

Use bulleted notes versus scripted answers

Use preparation time and the time in between takes to jot down your key talking points rather than trying to write out exact lines to read, the experts said.

"What we want to avoid is the candidates reading word for word a script out loud of the answer," said Jones. "I don't think they realize that we can see their eyes tracking across the screen."

Dennes, the Wall Street headhunter, suggested writing down the questions as they're being asked to make sure you are truly responding to them. Then use those bullet points from the earlier preparation for your answers.

"It's akin to a debate format where you would be asked a question, write it down, and then present your answer."

Take advantage of the redo tool

Many companies give applicants the opportunity to re-record every question at least once, said Jones. Figure out if you have redos before starting and, if so, how many. Then take advantage of it.

A little-utilized trick: There's no time limit between your first take and your redo, so if you don't like your first take, you could spend as long as you want to sit there and think through your answer before recording the second take.

Once you run out of redos, however, the software will submit the last take as your recorded response.

"You can't take it back, you can't undo it, so you really wanna make sure if you're gonna do a redo that you've kind of thought through what you're going to do with that redo," said Jones.

A common mistake, she said, is accidentally hitting "submit" instead of "redo" or "record."

"I had a candidate who accidentally recorded himself Facetiming his friend for help with the answers because he thought he was in between takes."

Research sample questions

Some questions, according to Dennes, may include:

• Give an example of an experience where you've worked within a team.
• Tell us about a time you handled a contentious situation. What was your approach?
• Why [insert bank name here]?
• Tell us about an article you read recently that you were interested in and why?
• What is your greatest weakness?

The "greatest weakness" question is a common fumble, she added.

"You cannot say, 'I am a perfectionist.' Come up with an actual weakness, but one that's fixable or redeemable," she said.

She also stressed the importance of being prepared to answer "Why [insert bank name here]." This is where pre-application networking and coffee chats can really help. It can be advantageous to briefly mention some of the people at the bank you've met or spoken to and what you've gathered in your networking about what makes the firm special and why it aligns with you as a person.

As Lazard's head of recruiting, Danielle Dodgen, told BI in a 2023 interview, this question can often make or break a candidate's chance at moving on to the next round.

"It sounds so simple, but it's really important to be able to convey to the interviewer, 'This is my story, this is how I got here, and this is why I'm pursuing this path,'" said Dodgen. "There are instances where, if candidates haven't put much thought into the 'why,' it's pretty clear to interviewers."

Jones also stressed the importance of relating your experiences and achievements back to investment banking.

"Good candidates are able to give a concise, STAR-method answer that really lays out what they've done, what their actions were, what's the result," she said. "But great candidates then tie it back to the role."

• JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs had blockbuster performance numbers for the end of 2024.
• JPMorgan's profit rose 50%; Goldman's profit jumped 105%, led by higher investment-banking fees.
• Here's what it could mean for hiring across Wall Street in 2025.

Big banks posted blowout fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, led by a growing appetite for corporate financing, institutional trading, and dealmaking —  trends that could boost hiring in 2025.

JPMorgan Chase kicked off Wall Street's earnings season by reporting a 50% increase in profits, led by a 49% increase in investment-banking revenue over last year's fourth quarter, and double-digit growth in trading revenue. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, said profit for the three months that ended on December 31 rose 105%, driven by demand for corporate dealmaking and capital raising. And Citigroup showed a 35% increase in investment-banking revenue for the fourth quarter from a year ago.

The robust results follow several years of sagging demand for Wall Street's bread-and-butter businesses, layoffs, lower bonuses, and an overall muted environment for job hopping.

Now, the strong 2024 performances, particularly in trading, mean that annual bonuses could be as much as 35% higher from a year ago. Banks have started to share the bonus numbers with employees, as Business Insider reported last week.

More broadly, Wall Street headhunters say that hiring has been picking up in select areas in recent months, including junior-banking roles and back-office tech jobs. They expect the shift to continue in 2025.

"The 45% surge in Goldman's profits and CEO David Solomon's bullish outlook on M&A signals a notable shift in the hiring market," said Meridith Dennes, managing partner at Prospect Rock Partners recruiting firm. "Banks that aggressively downsized during the 2022 to 2023 slowdown are now selectively rebuilding their deal teams."

Of course, working on Wall Street could also get harder in 2025. The industry's notoriously long hours could intensify as demand for dealmaking and capital raising continues. At the same time, work-from-home options are shrinking, with JPMorgan last week telling employees on a hybrid schedule to return to the office five days a week starting in March.

Here are 4 trends in financial-industry hiring that could spur Wall Street job growth in 2025:

Dealmakers

Following several years of muted dealmaking, demand for mergers and acquisitions has been picking up in recent months, driven by lower borrowing costs as interest rates decline. The M&A streak is expected to continue in 2025, aided by a more business-friendly regulatory regime under President-elect Donald Trump.

The uptick is already having an effect on hiring. As BI recently reported, John Weinberg, the chairman and CEO of the elite boutique investment bank Evercore, said in December that he's been spending an unusual amount of time on year-end hiring.

"Most of the time, you don't really do much recruiting in November or December," he said at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York. "If you could see my schedule, you'd see that virtually every day I am speaking with and recruiting" new talent, he said.

As for the jobs outlook, he said: "You could probably anticipate that our recruiting efforts will increase, not decrease."

Recruiters in December told BI that they have seen surging demand for M&A bankers in industries viewed as hot for deals, including tech, healthcare, restructuring, industrials, consumer retail, and financial institutions — a trend they expect to continue this year.

Junior bankers

Demand for junior investment-banking talent has also been picking up. Dennes, the headhunter, said that she is seeing especially strong demand for what she referred to as "the seasoned associate," but also at the vice-president level, who tend to sit in the middle of the investment-banking pecking order.

As BI reported in October, JPMorgan Chase ramped up off-cycle hiring for junior investment bankers late last year, according to people familiar with the bank's recruitment efforts and to its online jobs board. At the time of the report, a JPMorgan executive told BI that the bank was hiring across all levels of investment banking amid a bump in deal flow.

Whether the JPMorgan hiring boost will continue in 2025, however, remains to be seen. On Wednesday, the bank's chief financial officer, Jeremy Barnum, told investors that JPMorgan intends to keep headcount flat this year, following a 2% rise in staffing in 2024. That included a 3% rise in its asset- and wealth-management unit, according to company filings.

Goldman Sachs' careers portal, meanwhile, displays 15 open job listings for junior bankers in New York, London, and San Francisco, namely at the analyst and associate levels. In January, one open role called for an associate to cover deals for financial institutions and asset-management clients, while another sought an IB associate to focus on the entertainment sector. A third associate position was focused on executing general mergers and acquisitions.

IT jobs

Headhunters have said that an array of financial-services firms, from banks to hedge funds, are expected to boost tech hiring as they explore and build new artificial intelligence capabilities.

In July, JPMorgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, said he expects to add thousands of AI-related jobs in the next few years. Hedge funds and proprietary-trading firms have also been getting into the act, shelling out big bucks, as much as $350,000 in annual salaries, to snag coveted AI researchers and engineers.

Some private-equity firms, meanwhile, have been paying up to $2 million, including base salary and bonus, for so-called AI operating executives, recruiters told BI last year.

See BI's top tips for landing a Wall Street tech job in 2025.

Private credit and financing

So-called private credit has been on a roll in recent years as more asset managers, like Apollo and Blackstone, pick up lending that banks increasingly deem too risky for their balance sheets.

Plus, there are signs that demand for nonbank loans will only intensify in 2025, as demand for corporate capital raising increases, including for M&A.

On Monday, Goldman Sachs announced a new structure to capitalize on growing demand for financing. Its new Capital Solutions Group is geared to provide alternative sources of lending to corporate clients as well as financial sponsors.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that hedge fund Point72 hired Todd Hirsch, a former Blackstone senior managing director, to build out its new private-credit business.

Goldman on Wednesday reported record results in fixed-income and equities financing, which includes capital raising on behalf of clients. Goldman's CEO referred to financing a "large strategic opportunity" for the bank, thanks to what he described as "important structural trends currently taking place in finance" including the emergence of private credit.

See BI's top do's and don'ts for landing a job in the burgeoning private-credit industry.

Regardless of what kind of exercise you’re into, if you’re working out, you’ll want a pair of wireless workout headphones. They allow you to be free and untethered during a serious weight-lifting session, a 5K run, an hour at the skate park and everywhere in between where you’re moving and sweating a ton. There are dozens of great wireless headphones and wireless earbud options out there, but for exercise in particular, there are additional factors to consider before picking one up like water resistance, battery life and overall comfort.

At Engadget, we’ve tested a bunch of fitness-ready headphones and earbuds to come up with our top picks, plus some advice to consider before you pick up a pair. All of our top picks below will work in and out of the gym, so you can invest in just one pair and make those your daily driver. If you’re primarily a runner, check out our list of best headphones for running.

What to look for in workout headphones

Design

Before diving in, it’s worth mentioning that this guide focuses on wireless earbuds. While you could wear over-ear or on-ear headphones during a workout, most of the best headphones available now do not have the same level of durability. Water and dust resistance, particularly the former, is important for any audio gear you plan on sweating with or taking outdoors, and that’s more prevalent in the wireless earbuds world.

Most earbuds have one of three designs: in-ear, in-ear with hook or open-ear. The first two are the most popular. In-ears are arguably the most common, while those with hooks promise better security and fit since they have an appendage that curls around the top of your ear. Open-ear designs don’t stick into your ear canal, but rather sit just outside of it. This makes it easier to hear the world around you while also listening to audio, and could be more comfortable for those who don’t like the intrusiveness of in-ear buds.

Water resistance and dust protection

Even if a pair of headphones for working out aren’t marketed specifically as exercise headphones, a sturdy, water-resistant design will, by default, make them suitable for exercise. To avoid repetition, here’s a quick primer on durability, or ingression protection (IP) ratings. The first digit you’ll see after the “IP” refers to protection from dust and other potential intrusions, measured on a scale from 1 to 6. The second refers to water resistance or even waterproofing, in the best cases. The ratings for water resistance are ranked on a scale of 1 to 9; higher numbers mean more protection, while the letter “X” means the device is not rated for protection in that regard.

All of the earbuds we tested for this guide have at least an IPX4 rating, which means there’s no dust protection, but the buds can withstand splashes from any direction and are sweat resistant, but probably shouldn't be submerged. For a detailed breakdown of all the possible permutations, check out this guide published by a supplier called The Enclosure Company.

Active noise cancellation and transparency mode

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is becoming standard on wireless earbuds, at least those above a certain price point. If you’re looking for a pair of buds that can be your workout companion and serve you outside of the gym, too, noise cancelation is a good feature to have. It makes the buds more versatile, allowing you to block out the dull roar of your home or office so you can focus, or give you some solitude during a busy commute.

But an earbud’s ability to block out the world goes hand-in-hand with its ability to open things back up should you need it. Many ANC earbuds also support some sort of “transparency mode,” or various levels of noise reduction. This is important for running headphones because exercising outdoors, alongside busy streets, can be dangerous. You probably don’t want to be totally oblivious to what’s going on around you when you’re running outside; adjusting noise cancelation levels to increase your awareness will help with that. Stronger noise cancelation might be more appealing to those doing more indoor training if they want to block out the dull roar of a gym or the guy exaggeratingly lifting weights next to you.

Battery life

All of the Bluetooth earbuds we tested have a battery life of six to eight hours. In general, that’s what you can expect from this space, with a few outliers that can get up to 15 hours of life on a charge. Even the low end of the spectrum should be good enough for most athletes and gym junkies, but it’ll be handy to keep the buds’ charging case on you if you think you’ll get close to using up all their juice during a single session.

You’ll get an average of 20 to 28 extra hours of battery out of most charging cases and all of the earbuds we tested had holders that provided at least an extra 15 hours. This will dictate how often you actually have to charge the device — as in physically connect the case with earbuds inside to a charging cable, or set it on a wireless charger to power up.

How we test workout headphones

In testing wireless workout headphones, I wear them during every bit of exercise I do — be it a casual walk around the block, a brisk morning run or a challenging weight-lifting session. I’m looking for comfort arguably most of all, because you should never be fussing with your earbuds when you should be focusing on working out. In the same vein, I’m cognizant of if they get loose during fast movements or slippery when I’m sweating. I also use the earbuds when not exercising to take calls and listen to music throughout the day. Many people will want just one pair of earbuds that they can use while exercising and just doing everyday things, so I evaluate each pair on their ability to be comfortable and provide a good listening experience in multiple different activities.

While I am also evaluating sound quality, I’m admittedly not an audio expert. My colleague Billy Steele holds that title at Engadget, and you’ll find much more detailed information about audio quality for some of our top picks in his reviews and buying guides. With these headphones for working out, however, I will make note of related issues if they stood out (i.e. if a pair of earbuds had noticeably strong bass out of the box, weak highs, etc). Most of the wireless workout headphones we tested work with companion apps that have adjustable EQ settings, so you’ll be able to tweak sound profiles to your liking in most cases.

A note about Jabra headphones

Jabra announced it will exit the consumer earbuds business, which is disappointing considering the company has made excellent headphones for working out. Our top picks include two Jabra models and we feel comfortable recommending them still because Jabra plans to support its current earbuds for "several years." However, we're constantly testing new buds and reassessing our top picks, so we'll update this list accordingly in the future.

Best workout headphones for 2025

Others wireless workout headphones we tested

Apple AirPods Pro

The Apple AirPods Pro have an IP54 rating, which protects them from brief encounters with dust and splashes. While that’s more dust protection than many other earbuds we tested, it’s the same level of water resistance that most exercise-specific competitors have. We generally like the AirPods Pro, but the Beats Fit Pro offer many of the same features and conveniences (namely good transparency mode and the H1 chip), with a design that’s more appropriate for working out.

Beats Powerbeats Pro

The Powerbeats Pro are a good alternative to the Beats Fit Pro if you’re a stickler for a hook design. However, they cost $50 more than the Fit Pro (although they often hover around $180) and don’t offer any significant upgrades or additional features aside from their design. They’re also quite old at this point (launched in 2019) and it appears Beats is putting more effort into upgrading and updating its newer models rather than this model.

Anker Soundcore AeroFit Pro

The Soundcore AeroFit Pro is Anker’s version of the Shokz OpenFit, but I found it to be less secure and not as comfortable as the latter. The actual earbuds on the AeroFit Pro are noticeably bulkier than those on the OpenFit, which caused them to shift and move much more when I was wearing them during exercise. They never fell off my ears completely, but I spent more time adjusting them than I did enjoying them.

JBL Endurance Peak 3

The most noteworthy thing about the Endurance Peak 3 is that they have the same IP68-rating that the Jabra Elite 8 Active do, but they only cost $100. But, while you get the same protection here, you’ll have to sacrifice in other areas. The Endurance Peak 3 didn’t blow me away when it came to sound quality or comfort (the hook is more rigid than those on my favorite buds of a similar style) and their charging case is massive compared to most competitors.

Indoor climbing is a tricky sport to track. That’s why Spanish startup Lizcore caught TechCrunch’s eye at MWC earlier this year. The team of two co-founders — led by CEO Edgar Casanovas Lorente, a climbing instructor and guide turned entrepreneur — were showing off hardware they hope will see climbing gyms ushering in the kind of social gamification […]

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The market for true wireless earbuds has exploded, and while that means more choices, it also means more confusion when it comes to picking the best wireless earbuds for your needs. From premium options like the AirPods Pro 2, which combine sleek design with impressive active noise cancellation, to models that prioritize exceptional sound quality, there’s a pair of Bluetooth earbuds for everyone. These compact devices also now offer features that rival traditional, over-ear headphones, which can make them the go-to choice for music lovers, commuters, gym-goers and many in between.

I've tested and reviewed dozens of sets of earbuds a year for Engadget, constantly pitting new models against the previous best across all price ranges to keep this list of the best true wireless earbuds up to date. This guide explains why my current selections for the best wireless earbuds made the cut, and offers some shopping advice in terms of everything you need to know before choosing the best true wireless earbuds for your needs.

If earbuds aren’t your jam, however, you can check out our best headphones buying guide, covering our favorite wireless, over-ear headphones, noise-canceling headphones and more.

Table of contents

• Best wireless earbuds of 2025

• What to look for in wireless earbuds

• How we test wireless earbuds

• Other wireless earbuds we tested

• Wireless earbuds FAQs

Best wireless earbuds of 2025

What to look for in wireless earbuds

When it comes to shopping for earphones, the first thing to consider is design or wear style. Do you prefer a semi-open fit like AirPods or do you want something that completely closes off your ears? If you’re shopping for earbuds with active noise cancellation, you'll want the latter, but a case can be made for the former if you want to wear them all day or frequent places where you need to be tuned in to the ambient sounds. The overall shape of earbuds can determine whether you get a comfortable fit, so can the size and weight, so you’ll want to consider all that before deciding. And remember: audio companies aren’t perfect, so despite lots of research, the earbud shape they decided on may not fit you well. Don’t be afraid to return ill-fitting earbuds for something that’s more comfortable.

As wireless earbuds have become the norm, they’re now more reliable for basic things like consistent Bluetooth connectivity. Companies are still in a race to pack as much as they can into increasingly smaller designs. This typically means a longer list of features on the more premium sets of earbuds with basic functionality on the cheapest models. Carefully consider what you can’t live without when selecting your next earbuds, and make sure key items like automatic pausing and multipoint connectivity are on the spec sheet. You’ll also want to investigate the volume and touch controls as you’ll often have to sacrifice access to something else to make that adjustment via on-board taps or swipes. Some earbuds even offer app settings to tweak the audio profiles or firmware updates to improve performance over time.

For those in the Apple ecosystem, features like auto-pairing with devices, especially with AirPods Pro 2, can be an added advantage, while Android users may want to look for models that offer similar cross-device functionality.

When it comes to battery life, the average set of earbuds lasts about five hours on a single charge. You can find sets that last longer, but this is likely enough to get you through a work day if you’re docking the buds during lunch or the occasional meeting. You’ll want to check on how many extra charges are available via the case and if it supports wireless charging.

Companies will also make lofty claims about call quality on wireless earbuds. Despite lots of promises, the reality is most earbuds still leave you sounding like you’re on speakerphone. There are some sets that deliver, but don’t get your hopes up unless reviews confirm the claims.

Sound can be subjective, so we recommend trying before you buy if at all possible. This is especially true if you're an audiophile. We understand this isn’t easy when most of us do a lot of shopping online, but trying on a set of earbuds and listening to them for a few minutes can save you from an expensive case of buyer's remorse. If a store doesn’t allow a quick demo, most retailers have return policies that will let you take earbuds back you don’t like. Of course, you have to be willing to temporarily part with funds in order to do this.

We also recommend paying attention to things like Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio and other immersive formats. Not all earbuds support them, so you’ll want to make sure a perspective pair does if that sort of thing excites you, especially if you plan to use them for playback of high-quality audio.

How we test wireless Bluetooth earbuds

The primary way we test earbuds is to wear them as much as possible. We prefer to do this over a one- to two-week period, but sometimes embargoes don’t allow it. During this time, we listen to a mix of music and podcasts, while also using the earbuds to take both voice and video calls. Since battery life for earbuds is typically less than a full day, we drain the battery with looping music and the volume set at a comfortable level (usually around 75 percent).

To judge audio quality, we listen to a range of genres, noting any differences in the sound profile across the styles. We also test at both low and high volumes to check for consistency in the tuning. To assess call quality, we’ll record audio samples with the earbuds’ microphones as well as have third parties call us.

When it comes to features, we do a thorough review of companion apps, testing each feature as we work through the software. Any holdovers from previous models are double checked for improvements or regression. If the earbuds we’re testing are an updated version of a previous model, we’ll spend time getting reacquainted with the older buds. Ditto for the closest competition for each new set of earbuds that we review.

Other wireless Bluetooth earbuds we tested

Beats Powerbeats Pro 2

The newest version of the Powerbeats Pro have an improved, comfortable design, balanced bass and new H2 chips and a heart rate sensor inside. But heart rate support is currently limited on iOS, and there's a possibility those capabilities make it onto the next AirPods Pro models.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3

The Galaxy Buds 3 combine ANC with an open-type design, which renders the noise-blocking abilities of the earbuds mostly useless. Still, there’s great low-end tone with ample bass when a track demands it. There are also lots of handy features, most of which require a Samsung phone. But at this price, there are better options from Google, Beats and Sony

Sennheiser Momentum Sport

I really like the overall shape of the Momentum Sport earbuds. They’re more comfortable than the Momentum True Wireless 4 and fit in my ears better. What’s more, the body temperature and heart rate sensors work well, sending those stats to a variety of apps. However, that sport-tracking feature works best with Polar’s app and devices, so there’s that consideration. Also, the audio quality and ANC performance isn’t as good as the MTW4, and these earbuds are pricey.

Beats Solo Buds

There’s a lot to like about the Solo Buds for $80. For me, the primary perk is they’re very comfortable to wear for long periods of time thanks to some thoughtful design considerations. You only get the basics here in terms of features and, as expected, the overall sound quality isn’t as good as the pricier models in the Beats lineup. You will get 18 hours of battery life though, since the company nixed the battery in the case and beefed up the listening time in the buds themselves.

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Bose created something very unique for this set of earbuds that allows you to stay in-tune with the world while listening to audio content. The clip-on design is very comfortable, but sound quality suffers due to the open-type fit, especially when it comes to bass and spatial audio.

Audio-Technica ATH-TWX7

These stick buds have a compact design that’s comfortable to wear and the warm sound profile is great at times. However, overall audio performance is inconsistent and there’s no automatic pausing.

Master & Dynamic MW09

Retooled audio, better ambient sound mode and reliable multipoint Bluetooth are the best things the MW09 has to offer. They’re expensive though, and you can find better ANC performance elsewhere.

Wireless earbud FAQs

What is considered good battery life for true wireless earbuds?

Most wireless earbuds will last five hours on a single charge, at the least. You can find some pairs that have even better battery life, lasting between six and eight hours before they need more juice. All of the best wireless earbuds come with a charging case, which will provide additional hours of battery life — but you'll have to return each bud to the case in order to charge them up.

Is sound quality better on headphones or earbuds?

Comparing sound quality on earbuds and headphones is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. There are a lot of variables to consider and the differences in components make a direct comparison difficult. Personally, I prefer the audio quality from over-ear headphones, but I can tell you the sound from earbuds like Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3 is also outstanding.

Which wireless earbuds have the longest battery life?

With new models coming out all the time, tracking the hours of battery life for each this can be difficult to keep tabs on. The longest-lasting earbuds we’ve reviewed are Audio-Technica’s ATH-CKS5TW. The company states they last 15 hours, but the app was still showing 40 percent at that mark during our tests. The only downside is these earbuds debuted in 2019 and both technology and features have improved since. In terms of current models, Master & Dynamic’s MW08 offers 12 hours of use on a charge with ANC off (10 with ANC on) and JBL has multiple options with 10-hour batteries.

What wireless earbuds are waterproof?

There are plenty of options these days when it comes to increased water resistance. To determine the level of protection, you’ll want to look for an IP (ingress protection) rating. The first number indicates intrusion protection from things like dust. The second number is the level of moisture protection and you’ll want to make sure that figure is 7 or higher. At this water-resistance rating, earbuds can withstand full immersion for up to 30 minutes in depths up to one meter (3.28 feet). If either of the IP numbers is an X, that means it doesn’t have any special protection. For example, a pair of wireless earbuds that are IPX7 wouldn’t be built to avoid dust intrusion, but they would be ok if you dropped them in shallow water.

Which earbuds stay in ears the best?

A secure fit can vary wildly from person to person. All of our ears are different, so audio companies are designing their products to fit the most people they can with a single shape. This is why AirPods will easily fall out for some but stay put for others. Design touches like wing tips or fins typically come on fitness models and those elements can help keep things in place. You’ll likely just have to try earbuds on, and if they don’t fit well return them.

What wireless earbuds work with PS5?

PlayStation 5 doesn’t support Bluetooth audio without an adapter or dongle. Even Sony’s own gaming headsets come with a transmitter that connects to the console. There are universal options that allow you to use any headphones, headset or earbuds with a PS5. Once you have one, plug it into a USB port on the console and pair your earbuds with it.

Recent updates

January 2025: Updated the top pick for "best sounding wireless earbuds."

July 2024: Updated our list to include the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.