[pnmahoney]

The best in finance have most of their compensation on a perfomance-bonus basis.

so for a highly sought after trading associate (real example, really high valued financial institution), get 100k base but also getting forward guidance for a 200k bonus at an absolute minimum - e.g. if not turning out to be completely incompetent.

[cellis]

And the best in software make tens of millions. What is your point? If we're comparing outliers, software engineers at software firms win by a long shot.

[pnmahoney]

I think you've misunderstood my point, and in the process of doing that you've made one about which you are, in my experience, wrong.

1.) My point was to answer (here, I'm quoting)

> And it doesn't seem clear that finance firms pay that well: > The average base salary for a software engineer at a finance firm is $92,000

by saying (and here I'm quoting the first sentence of my post)

> The best in finance have most of their compensation on a perfomance-bonus basis.

which is a relatively straightforward clarification, and on which point I went on to cite 100k base + 200k bonus.

As to the second point?

2.) I've yet to meet anyone "software engineers at software firms" who "make tens of millions". Or maybe that's just biased to my age group? But the best from my circles turned a 200+ offer to found a startup, and then a year after that didn't work out, has since taken a 300+ offer. I can assure the level of talent required for something like this is, indeed, atypical.

But I also can't say that you're wrong, since I can't say I'm familiar with every outlier case. Just that your experience has been different?

Well, at risk of sounding nasty, I actually don't think what you're talking about -- again, people working as software engineers at software firms making annual incomes measured in multiple 8-figures -- exists anywhere, even as an outlier.

[cellis]

The "tens of millions" (for outliers) is exaggerated, I'll give you that. What I meant to say, perhaps a bit more tactfully was that if you're an above average software engineer capable of getting a Wall St/Hedge fund type job, you will also have options of riding "rocketships" where your equity package can turn out to be several-millions to tens of millions. And your base pay these days will also not be anything small, although perhaps not as large as Wall St.

I also happen to know quite a few finance guys at top tier shops who are not quite cracking google-level compensation, even all in. But this is all anecdotal, and may not be representative of shops you're talking about.