He probably means the global 1% which is ~$30,000 per year, in a lot of first world places that is far from enough to build up wealth without behaving frugally.
Even when observing only the USA, a top 1% personal income starts at around $200K, which isn't unheard of for a developer position. A recent poll about age places the majority of HN readers early in their career where debt is usually high and assets have not had much time to accumulate, so a top 1% US income and no assets does not seem like an impossibility either.