Q2 2026 · Issue No. 01
The megadeal came back. Sponsors blinked. The comp talk got loud.
"Five months into 2026, global M&A is up 41 percent and tracking toward its second-best year on record. The story is concentration. Deals north of five billion now make up roughly half of all value, while sponsors pulled back nine percent as exits stayed hard to come by. Strategics are setting the pace. Here is what defined the quarter, what desks are actually paying, and where the talent is moving."
The megadeal is back, carrying the load
A few marquee transactions did the heavy lifting while mid-market volume stayed thin. It is a pattern that rewards bankers with the relationships to land the big mandate, and leaves everyone else fighting over a smaller pool.
| Acquirer / Target | Sector | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Paramount → Warner Bros. Discovery | Media | ~$111B |
| Sun Pharma → Organon | Pharma | $11.75B |
| Angelini Pharma → Catalyst | Rare disease | $4.1B |
Eye-popper of the quarter: a reported SpaceX and xAI combination drew an all-time headline value once equity is folded in.
Where the deal flow concentrated
Healthcare and pharma led, with back-to-back multibillion-dollar consolidations. Energy stayed busy, sponsors mostly on the sell-side, monetizing assets into strategic demand for AI-driven power. Technology got more complicated, not less, as AI reset the economics of legacy software. Consumer stayed selective, built around large CPG carve-outs and retail take-privates.
The compensation landscape
H1 2026 banking revenues kept outperforming, with most major institutions tracking 15 to 25 percent ahead of H1 2025. Mid-year adjustments and lateral offers show the same split: senior bankers are taking the upside while junior pay has barely moved, which is pushing attrition at the analyst and associate levels.
| Level | Base | All-in total |
|---|---|---|
| Analyst (Y1-Y3) | $110-150K | $175-290K |
| Flat year over year. Shrinking class sizes are raising the bar per head. | ||
| Associate | $175-250K | $325-525K |
| Elite-boutique all-in now runs $100K+ above bulge bracket at the same level. | ||
| Vice President | $275-375K | $550-850K |
| The most active lateral level in Q2. Mid-year bumps were common. | ||
| Director / ED | $350-500K | $750K-1.3M |
| Selective demand. Banks are paying up for portable relationships. | ||
| Managing Director | $500K-1M+ | $1.2M-5M+ |
| Guarantee packages for lateral MDs hit multi-year highs. | ||
The VP supply crunch hit full force
The candidate shortage we flagged entering the year peaked in Q2. Banks chased the same narrow profile all quarter: a currently employed VP with three or more closed M&A deals, a clean lateral history, and no visa complications. Several mandates went unfilled despite aggressive offers. The ratio of open VP seats to qualified, movable candidates is the most lopsided it has been this cycle.
The crunch eases a little in H2 as summer resets expectations. Structurally, the gap at VP is not closing. It is a multi-quarter reality.
AI eliminated its first analyst classes
What was theory in Q1 turned concrete in Q2. Several bulge brackets quietly cut incoming analyst classes by 15 to 20 percent for 2026. AI now handles real portions of CIM drafting, comparable company analysis, and first-pass model builds. The analyst job is moving from building to reviewing: fewer seats, a higher bar, a different skill set.
Junior hiring mandates keep shrinking. Demand is moving to VP and above, where judgment and client management cannot be automated.
Boutique hiring outpaced the bulge brackets
Elite boutiques and middle-market firms added senior headcount at roughly 18 percent year to date, well ahead of bulge bracket net hiring, which sat flat to slightly negative after performance cuts. The boutiques used their pay advantage, full cash bonuses and noticeably higher all-in at the Associate and VP level, to pull talent off bulge bracket platforms all quarter. Sector mandates in technology, healthcare, and energy drove most of the growth.
The boutique pipeline is now the highest-volume opportunity in the market. Candidates open to leaving a bulge bracket for better economics are more receptive than they have been in five years.
The Q2 window delivered, and it is now narrowing
Q2 was the most productive lateral quarter in over two years. The post-bonus window that opened in March kept candidates engaged through June, and response rates on outreach peaked in April and May. As summer arrives, that responsiveness is fading. The next high-activity window reopens after Labor Day, when H2 mandates and year-end positioning bring the urgency back.
Use the summer to build pipeline and deepen relationships. The H2 window rewards the people who did the groundwork now instead of scrambling in September.
Welcoming Collin Wohlfert
We are glad to welcome Collin Wohlfert as Head of Talent Coverage. Collin spent eight years at The Select Group recruiting across industries, most recently energy and utilities, and he brings that cross-industry experience to Ledgend with a clear bias for quality over quantity. He runs talent coverage end to end: sourcing, diligence, and the client relationship from intake through close.
Deals, coverage, comp, and the moves that matter, straight from Ledgend Group.
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