Fund Managers Hit Pay Dirt in a Big Way : Wall Street: George Soros becomes the first person on record to earn a 10-figure salary.

NEW YORK — Want a super-paying job? Become a hedge fund or commodity fund manager. They’re the people who shuffle around billions of investment dollars and get fat paychecks.

One fund manager, George Soros, took home at least $1.1 billion last year, says Financial World magazine, a business publication.

In its July 5 issue, the magazine’s annual survey of “The 100 Most Highly Compensated Wall Streeters” shows that the best-paid people were those who worked for investment partnerships called hedge funds or commodity funds.

Financial World said 1993 was such a great year that in order to make the list, the people who manage money had to get at least $10 million, up from 1992’s minimum of $6 million. The median earner on the list made at least $20 million, twice the 1992 figure.

Soros, who runs Soros Fund Management, is the first person on record to be paid a 10-figure salary. His billion-dollar paycheck exceeds the gross domestic product of at least 42 countries in the United Nations. With it he could buy 5,790 Rolls-Royces, nicely loaded, at $190,000 each.

Financial World said the managers did well simply because they had a great year running money. “A number of them, including Mark Strome and Cesar Montemayor, racked up gains exceeding 100% before fees,” it said.

Strome made at least $90 million running the Strome Susskind fund, and Montemayor had a paycheck of $11 million from Montemayor Asset Management.

Their paychecks are linked to their aggressive fee structures and the huge sums they manage.

Soros, for example, manages more than $11 billion. Julian Robertson, the second-highest-paid at $500 million, handles more than $6 billion at Tiger Management.

Financial World said the managers get a 1% fee for managing these assets.

Best-Paid on the Street Here are the Top 10 salaries on Wall Street.

Salary Name Business (millions) 1 George Soros Soros Fund Management $1,100 2 Julian Robertson Tiger Management 500 3 Michael Steinhardt Steinhardt Management 474 4 Stanley Druckenmiller Soros Fund Management 210 5 Bruce Kovner Caxton Corp. 200 6 Paul Kazarian Japonica Partners 148 7 Alfred Lerner Private Investor 99.3 8 Mark Strome Strome Susskind 90 9 Leon Cooperman Omega Advisors 70-85 10 Victor Posner & family private investor 60

Source: Reuters