Which one, and why
Two careers at a time, on the axes that actually decide it: what the job is, what it pays at entry and at the top, the hours, how you get in, and which way the door swings afterwards.
Investment banking vs Private equity
$100k vs $135k at the bottom of the ladder
Investment banking advises on transactions and is paid a fee for doing so. Private equity buys companies with its own fund and is paid on what those companies are eventually worth. On the usual path you spend two years as a banking analyst and then join private equity as an associate, roughly doubling your cash. The larger difference is carried interest, which banking does not have at all.
Private equity vs Hedge funds
$135k vs $175k at the bottom of the ladder
Private equity holds a small number of private companies for years and is paid through carried interest when a fund returns capital. Hedge funds hold liquid positions they can exit any day and are paid annually on the book. Hedge fund cash is higher at both ends of the ladder and far less predictable. Private equity closes the gap through carry, which arrives years later or not at all.
Investment banking vs Hedge funds
$100k vs $175k at the bottom of the ladder
Investment banking sells advice on transactions and pays a bonus set by the firm. A hedge fund takes positions with its own capital and pays a bonus set by the book. A fund pays more at the bottom of the ladder and banking more at the top, but the averages hide the real difference: banking pay is predictable and a fund's is not.
Private equity vs Venture capital
$135k vs $95k at the bottom of the ladder
Private equity buys control of profitable companies using debt and improves them. Venture capital buys small minority stakes in companies that mostly fail, in exchange for the few that do not. Private equity pays more cash at every level, and more than twice as much by the top of the ladder. Venture makes it up in carry that may take a decade to arrive, if it arrives.
Investment banking vs Software engineering
$100k vs $95k at the bottom of the ladder
Investment banking and software engineering pay similarly at the bottom of the ladder, and banking pulls far ahead in cash at the top. Banking asks for roughly twice the hours to do it. Software engineering pays a large part of its compensation in equity, which is missing from most published comparisons and is most of the difference at senior levels.
Hedge funds vs Venture capital
$175k vs $95k at the bottom of the ladder
Hedge funds invest in liquid markets and are marked every day, paying annually on the result. Venture capital invests in private companies and finds out whether it was right after a decade. Hedge fund cash is close to double venture at the bottom of the ladder and further ahead at the top. Venture makes the difference up only if the carry lands.
Every pay figure here comes from the same compensation bands, which break each track down level by level. For what the jobs involve day to day and how people get into them, see the career track map.