Goldman Sachs yesterday solidified its position as the best-paying publicly traded investment bank in Wall Street history, disclosing that it awarded co-presidents Gary Cohn and Jon Winkelried about $53m (£27m) each in cash and stock compensation last year.

The sum is a whisker shy of the $54m paid to Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive, highlighting Mr Blankfein's closeness to Mr Cohn and Mr Winkelried and his desire to reward his top lieutenants following Goldman's most profitable year. Mr Blankfein's pay was disclosed in December.