King & Spalding Pays Christopher Wray $9.2 Million A Year
The FBI director nominee makes a lot more money than his partners.
Christopher A. Wray (via King & Spalding)
Christopher Wray, the man Donald Trump has selected to head the Bureau Of Locking Her Up FBI, will face the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow. The media is currently buzzing over Wray’s financial disclosures (available on the next page), which reveal that he makes $9.2 million as a partner at King & Spalding.
It’s your regularly scheduled reminder that normal people are shocked by Biglaw salaries. Not to say making over $800K a month isn’t an extravagant haul in a country where the median annual income is $51,939 a year, but it shouldn’t bring the presses to a screeching halt to learn that a Biglaw partner is taking home a multimillion-dollar draw. This is what lawyers do. When you’re filling the proverbial swamp, you need a whole bunch of wealthy professionals. And, sure, it involves an ethically discomfiting revolving door — Wray himself is a former assistant attorney general who took the last 12 years to amass a small fortune before going back on the government payroll to investigate many of the companies he just defended — but we knew all that already.
What Do Millennials Think Of Law Firm Life?
Of more interest is just how much more he’s making than his colleagues. King & Spalding profits per partner clock in at a little over $2.5 million, so Wray is lapping the average PPP three times over. I don’t know how transparent the King & Spalding partnership is, but I’d like to think there’s a King & Spalding partner toiling for a million five out there who opened the newspaper today and went, “The f**k?”
One thing we know for sure is that, once confirmed, Wray will have to pack up and move to antiquated digs in the Hoover building after today’s announcement that the FBI is giving up on its dream of moving to a new office.
It’s too bad. If only there were a real estate developer in the government capable of negotiating a better deal.
(Check out his disclosures on the next page.)
Sponsored
Stuck Drafting A Tough Brief? This Tool Can Help.
The Global Legal News You Need, When You Need It
Legal Knowledge Management To Drive Dealmaking
Stuck Drafting A Tough Brief? This Tool Can Help.
FBI pick Christopher Wray made $9.2 million at law firm [Washington Examiner]
Earlier: President Trump Selects DOJ Veteran Christopher Wray As F.B.I. Director
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
Sponsored
What Do Millennials Think Of Law Firm Life?
