OpenAI outpaid quant trading firms in London last year, offering £2m+ per head including stock
AI labs and quant firms are two of the most lucrative places to work today as a STEM graduates, but not all of these companies are created equal. Accounts for OpenAI filed with the UK's Companies House show that the lab doubled headcount over the past year and increased pay.
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'OpenAI UK Limited' had an average of 110 employees in 2025, including 34 'research and development staff.' It paid them a total of £252m, an average of £2.3m ($3m) each. Average 'wages and salaries' were £794.3k; average 'share-based compensation' was £1.5m.
This is much more than even the most prestigious global quant firms paid on average last year in London. Jane Street's UK entity paid an average of ~£1.4m ($1.8m) last year whereas Hudson River Trading paid an average of £820k ($1.08m) across three entities.
There are drawbacks to OpenAI's compensation structure compared to that of quant firms. OpenAI stock is valuable, but you're beholden to its IPO (which was pushed back to next year) or a secondary share sale to sell it. You also have to wait for the lock-up period to end, at which point the stock price could be very different (for better or worse). Quant firms, by contrast, pay predominantly in cash. The way it's paid out varies by firm, however, and bonuses might be deferred over a period of time to incentivize you to stay.
It's not necessarily about the money. One OpenAI intern that also interviewed with quant firms said earlier this year that they were attracted to the opportunity of "doing good for the world." A hedge fund AI researcher said that the opportunity to be credited with published research is also a key incentive; quant firms often keep their most valuable information to themselves.
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