There is money to be made, a lot of it, helping the wealthy make and protect their fortunes.

 

One group is known as compensation consultants. These high-flyers assist Wall Street firms decide how many millions they can spend each year on bonuses and other extra compensation to executives and employees.

 

Major banks, hedge funds and private equity firms use compensation consultants, who include Johnson Associates, Semler Brossy, the Hay Group and Frederic W. Cook & Company.

 

Others who help America's oligarchy are known as the "wealth defense industry," comprised of attorneys, accountants, wealth management consultants, lobbyists, think-tank analysts and members of the insurance industry. Their mission: to prevent the rich from paying taxes and allow their heirs to hold on to as much fortune as possible after they die.

 

Some of the top "wealth defense industry" players are Whithers, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, White & Case, Milbank Tweed Hadley and McCloy, Weil Gotshal and Manges, and Freeman Freeman and Smiley.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

The Invisible Hand Behind Bonuses on Wall Street (by Kevin Roose, New York Times)

'Wealth Defense Industry' Protects Oligarchs from the Rabble and Its Taxes (by Dan Froomkin, Nieman Watchdog)