Soros Named Richest on Wall Street : Securities: A survey puts the Hungarian-born money manager’s income last year at a record $650 million.

George Soros made more money in 1992 than anyone on Wall Street ever has, including former junk bond king Michael Milken, according to a survey done by Financial World magazine.

Soros, a Hungarian-born money manager, was first on the magazine’s eighth annual list of the 100 highest-paid people on Wall Street. By its estimate, he made at least $650 million last year. Milken’s highest annual compensation was widely reported as $550 million in 1986.

“If Soros were a public company, his earnings would have ranked 68th, between Sara Lee and Warner-Lambert,” according to a story on the survey in Financial World’s July 6 issue.

All of his five investment funds rose between 45% and 80% before fees were deducted, the magazine said. The funds made an estimated $1 billion last year from the collapse of the British pound and the Italian lira, which were withdrawn in September from a system designed to keep European currencies in line.

The 62-year-old Soros had more than $800 million invested in the funds in 1992, and racked up $400 million in realized gains on that investment. He made another $200 million or so from his share of the funds’ incentive fees, a reward for performance, and as much as $50 million from his share of a 1% management fee charged after expenses, according to the survey.

Incentive fees for fund managers generally amount to 20% of any increase in the portfolio’s value. They contributed to earnings for seven of the top eight people on the list, including Soros and Michael Steinhardt, second with at least $250 million in earnings last year.

Those money managers profited last year from gains in the German mark, as well as declines in the pound and the lira. They also made money in U.S. Treasury issues and Japanese securities, as well as futures on Standard & Poor’s 500-Stock Index, according to the magazine.

Investor Alfred Lerner was the only person among 1992’s top eight who wasn’t a money manager. He finished third by making at least $139 million last year, the survey said.

Lerner profited in December by selling stock in Progressive Corp., an insurance company based in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. This year, he stepped down as chairman, chief executive and a director of Progressive. He is currently chairman of MNC Financial Corp., a Baltimore-based bank holding company being acquired by NationsBank Corp., and MBNA Corp., a credit card company based in Newark, Del.

Rounding out last year’s top eight were Tiger Management’s Julian Robertson Jr., who earned at least $120 million; Stanley Druckenmiller, Soros’ chief strategist, at least $110 million; Caxton Corp.’s Bruce Kovner, at least $100 million; Paul Tudor Jones II of Tudor Investment, at least $85 million, and Moore Capital Management’s Louis Bacon, at least $35 million.

Henry Kravis and George Roberts of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co., the leveraged buyout firm, tied for ninth with at least $33 million in earnings last year. Thomas Lee, who runs a buyout firm bearing his name, was 11th with at least $30 million.

The cutoff for inclusion on the 1992 list was at least $6 million in earnings, up 20% from 1991.