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$900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

levels.fyi

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Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#211

Post by abwizz »

dumbaccount123 wrote: post #121
BrandoElFollito wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good point. I look at 900k$ and think wow from the perspective of my very well paid job in France. Getting 900k$ a year would bring great things to me and probably make me retire earlier. This will not be life-changing though. And then I think about people who earn 5% of what I do and for them multiplying their income by two would probably be truly life changing for them. And then these 900k$ do not look th…

Are you here to just brag? Also the dollar sign goes on the other side.

imho most countries on earth use the format: [scalar] [si-prefix] [unit]

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#212

Post by Panini_Jones »

ironrabbit wrote: post #153
Panini_Jones wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does levels.fyi say US$542,547 for E6? I count only 6 figures.

New hires' comp is much higher than existing employees', especially if you've hit your cliff. 7 figures for E6 can happen if you joined recently, have good counter-offers, and negotiate. It's not super uncommon but it's also not the median E6 comp.

You can filter the results on levels.fyi. New offers going back a few years are less than 7 figures (even including sign-on bonus).

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#213

Post by moralestapia »

QIYGT wrote: post #135
jocaal wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, if you take 300k home, the risk isn't that high. But the reward is insane.

That person could probably be making 500k+ at a FANG with less variance in the stock component.

I read this here and there and don't doubt it, but then again I've never seen/met anyone IRL (outside of C-level) making this much money as an employee.

Are they just extremely rare cases or am I just not aware of the valley and their customs?

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#214

Post by zoltar »

QIYGT wrote: post #199
bluedevilzn wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The median person in SFO lives a way worse life than a median person in Ohio

Only if you define "good life" as having a big house with a big yard.

Last time I ate in SF, I walked past a guy smoking crack on the sidewalk. But, yeah... big house with a big yard is nice.

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#215

Post by choppaface »

Blackthorn wrote: post #141

Some made up new equity class that isn't actually equity, and caps your upside? Are we seeing a new level of startup management greed? That smells pretty scammy. Common advice is to value earlier stage equity at zero anyway, so how the heck are people credibly calling that worth 600k...

There are a handful of unicorns / decacorns that went poof and the BS equity turned out to indeed be BS. That’s why they have to do $300k base salary, because that’s low end of total comp at competing mega caps, without it they couldn’t sign anybody from there.

OpenAI will probably end up like UberATG where Microsoft bails out a handful of $10m-plus equity packages, some engineers transfer into MS and get partial recognition, and a bunch of engineers get laid off or sent to a competitor for basically zero. Good chance of this happening when sama has to scale up aggressively and flops.

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#216

Post by paulpauper »

jedberg wrote: post #28

Based on what I've seen/heard, they seem to follow a similar comp philosophy to Netflix -- pay top of market to get the best people. But it's also important to note that only $300K of that is in cash. The other $600K is in profit participation, which could take years (maybe even a decade!) to be realized. It could also be worth $6M a year when it's realized. But ultimately it's an investment of your time. Or to think…

Open AI does not make profits though

Although with Sam at the helm, my guess is it will probably be worth more than $600K a year.

or not . I would rather work for facebook with profit participation. zuck seems to know how to make a profit.

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#217

Post by johnmyleswhite »

moralestapia wrote: post #213
QIYGT wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That person could probably be making 500k+ at a FANG with less variance in the stock component.

I read this here and there and don't doubt it, but then again I've never seen/met anyone IRL (outside of C-level) making this much money as an employee. Are they just extremely rare cases or am I just not aware of the valley and their customs?

Have you met any IC8+/D1+ working for Meta in the US?

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#218

Post by tomp »

gamblor956 wrote: post #189
dheera wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be realistic ... 300K in the bay is barely livable if you're targeting a middle class life with kids and targeting retiring at 65. First, ~46% of it is gone in taxes including federal tax (~25%), state tax (~8%), FICA (~4%), and sales tax on everything you eventually use the money for (~9%). So that's 162K left. Not a lot to pay sky-high rents, car payments, insane medical bills despite insurance, lawyers to fight…

To be realistic, even in the Bay, 300k is more than livable if you're targeting a middle class lifestyle with kids and retiring at 65. If you can't retire at 65 on 300k a year, you're not living a middle class lifestyle. Not even close. Rent: 4k/month = 48k. Car payments 750/month = $9k. Using your post-tax numbers (which are wrong) that leaves over $100k per year for all the other random stuff you've listed, which i…

Is it realistic though?

If I set "max price" to 4k in Cupertino (random SV place) and 3+ bedrooms (2 kids), there's literally 8 results on Zillow.

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#219

Post by Solvency »

QIYGT wrote: post #199
bluedevilzn wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The median person in SFO lives a way worse life than a median person in Ohio

Only if you define "good life" as having a big house with a big yard.

For literally anyone raising a family, a "good life" isn't actively trying to minimize the loss of every penny of your money to outrageous cost of living, childcare, etc -- all while trying to justify the existence of a "diverse cultural experience" while dodging crack addicts, crime, and other increasingly untenable issues.

Re: $900k Median Package for Engineers at OpenAI

#220

Post by nly »

dheera wrote: post #166
finitemonkey wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might want to check what the difference between mean and marginal tax rate is. For somebody with a lifestyle in which $162k a year is considered "barey livable" that should be sth very easy to understand. >save up money for parental elderly care Sorry, what? Your parents? I can see that paying for 3 generations on one income can be hard.

> difference between mean and marginal I was writing mean rates, not marignal. For 300K in CA: - marginal is 35% federal, 9.3% state, 2.35% FICA - mean is 24.74% federal and 8.06% state, 4.79% FICA. > I can see that paying for 3 generations on one income can be hard. Yes, most working class people have to care for 3 generations. Parents being wealthy enough to take care of their own retirement expenses is a small, sm…

37.5% total taxation.

Someone in the UK on £236K ($300K) currently takes home only 57%, and doesn't have access to 30 year fixed rate mortgage loans

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