TOP WALL STREET MONEYMAKERS

If you thought the earnings of top public company executives were high, get a load of this: Financial World, a New York-based business magazine, has released its ranking of Wall Street’s top moneymakers, the 100 wheelers and dealers who--through salaries, buyouts or commissions--each earned more than $6 million in 1989.

Marvin Davis, the Beverly Hills buyout artist and delicatessen magnate, topped the chart with a whopping $125 million, earned from cashing out his holdings in United and Northwest airlines. Davis owns and operates a private investment company with his sons.

The top 10 moneymakers earned an average of $86.5 million, according to Financial World.

Of course, compiling such a list is more an art than a science. Since the bulk of these executives work for themselves or for private companies, their earnings are rarely disclosed to the public. Financial World says 95% of the earnings on the list were gleaned through interviews with the executives themselves, their friends or their competitors. A handful of executives disclosed their earnings in public documents.

Financial World’s “Wall Street 100” will be published in the magazine’s July 10 issue, as well as a list of 100 also-rans who earned between $3 million and $6 million. 1. Marvin Davis and family, owners of Davis Enterprises in Beverly Hills; $125 million 2. Bruce Kovner, private futures trader based in New York; at least $110 million 3. Irwin L. Jacobs, Minstar in Minneapolis; more than $100 million 4. Peter Ackerman, former Beverly Hills trader for Drexel Burnham Lambert; at least $100 million 5. Carl C. Icahn, chairman of TWA in New York; $95 to $135 million 6. Paul Tudor Jones II, futures trader based in Chesapeake Bay, Va.; more than $65 million 7. Michel David-Weill, partner at Lazard Freres in New York, and family; at least $65 million 8. M. Lee Pearce, chairman of AmeriFirst S&L; in Miami; at least $65 million 9. George Soros, founder of Quantum Fund, an offshore investment fund; at least $65 million 10. Gerhard Andlinger, buyout artist based in Tarrytown, N.Y.; $60 million

Source: Financial World magazine