[achiang]

Accurate headline but incorrect analysis.

Big Tech pays like sports, not because of average salary levels, but because of the spread between highest and lowest paid engineers.

Let's say an entry level role in big tech pays about $200k per year in total comp.

It would not be surprising for your top engineer (Jeff Dean ~= LeBron James, e.g.) to rate north of $10m in annual total comp, so 2 orders of magnitude difference.

Multiples in sports are higher, but the point I'm making is that just as LeBron makes multiples of what a bench warmer does, so do the Jeff Deans of the world make multiples of what new college grads do. This is a markedly different landscape vs say, the late 90s when spreads were much MUCH tighter. Unfairly so in my opinion.

Disclosure: I work for Google but have no special knowledge of Jeff Dean's (or any other superstar) comp. I simply claim I wouldn't be surprised if I ever learned the real numbers. :)