Yeah, that's true, but in Silicon Valley it's common to have a $60K base (actually more like $100K, but Wall Street is really more like $80-90K) and then make your "real" money as 7-8 figures of equity.

If you're going to look at the top of the financial industry (who are probably not NYU students, sorry), you've got to compare them to the top of the tech industry, the guys who found successful startups.