Pay for electronic trading graduates is soaring: $1m at HRT, $850k at Jane Street

Very few people are able to make it to the promised land of electronic trading. Graduates that do so are able to earn staggering amounts of money, but if you're hired by Hudson River Trading, you'll make more money than the rest.

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We've spoken to multiple insiders in the electronic trading space to understand what kind of compensation packages were offered to 2026 summer interns returning full-time in 2027. Multiple sources have attested that Hudson River Trading (HRT) is the most generous of the major trading firms, offering a first-year compensation package of $1m, although it did not respond to a request for comment to confirm this. Anonymous sources suggest that the largest component of the package is a sign-on bonus, which can reach up to $400k. This is supposedly the "scraps"; senior people at the firm can earn upwards of $100m per year.

Last year, HRT appeared to pay most new graduates up to $700k. In a recent podcast, ex-HRT algo developer Su Min Lee said that first-year compensation offers for new joiners were "in the $550k to $700k range." Lee said that, when she joined the firm in 2021, her compensation was around $375k, but she said this was on the lower end and that returning interns (which she was not) earned more. Insiders say that $1m has been achievable for top interns in the past. 

At Hudson River Trading, multiple software engineers on Levels.fyi with zero years of experience also reported total compensation of over $700k last year; HRT insiders say that compensation for tech and algo development is broadly similar at entry level but traders can differentiate themselves more as they become more senior.

Opinions on first-year compensation at Jane Street were mixed but sources within electronic trading firms suggest that $850k packages for 2027 graduates are the most common. It was suggested that the firm could offer $1m packages too. Jane Street declined to comment. Figures for Citadel Securities were not as readily available, but we understand it is highly competitive. Both firms paid their total headcount an average of over $2m per head last year.

We understand that Jump Trading made offers in excess of $900k to some candidates for 2027 graduate roles, but the average offer sat closer to $750k. We understand also that Susquehanna offered within a range of $600k to $800k+. Both firms declined to comment.

Word on pay at the other trading firms was more sparse. Anonymous sources suggest Optiver will pay 2027 graduates $700k and that IMC Trading, which increased compensation to $425k last year, increased pay again to $500k.  Sources close to New York-based Jane Street spinout Five Rings say it pays graduates $700k. These firms did not respond to a request for comment.

Why such a drastic increase in pay? A lot has changed for electronic trading firms in the past few years, not least their skyrocketing revenues. In 2025, Jane Street generated a record $39.6bn in net trading revenues, HRT made $12.3bn and Citadel Securities made $12.2bn. It seems like things have been even better this year; Jane Street, despite losing ~$15bn during the Situational Awareness crash, had made over $40bn in trading revenues as of August.

You could also argue that it is an ongoing response from these firms to prevent AI labs like Anthropic from taking their top talent. The particularly large signing bonuses might be seen as a more immediate alternative to receiving stock pay that could take years to pay out, especially now that OpenAI has delayed its IPO over AI safety fears.

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