Masters of the universe: meet the world's best-paid men

And who are these men? They are called hedge fund managers - in other words, they are investors who buy and sell all manner of financial instruments with the express aim of making money for their clients, and for themselves.

"They're a very private bunch," Mr Purcell explains, "largely because they earn so much. They are highly secretive in every aspect of what they do."

t the very top of the pile, we're talking $4bn. Just in case that hasn't quite registered yet - that's four billion dollars.

This does, of course, include bonuses and fees as well as salary. In fact, the salary is a tiny fraction of their overall pay.