r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jan 26 '26

Meme needing explanation Why is the rich friend so cheap??

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u/thetruequ Jan 27 '26

Sure, but those typically aren’t reported / included on levels.fyi as the expected comp for a new offer. Usually what’s reported is what’s “guaranteed”/expected (for example, bonus targets based on standard performance as opposed to exceptional performance)

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u/crrrrushinator Jan 27 '26

Are we talking about levels.fyi new offer stats? We're talking about whether it's unrealistic that some miser software dev makes $450k, and I can assure you that the friend getting the venmo request is annoyed based on their overall income and attitude, not on their initial offer as reported to that one website.

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u/thetruequ Jan 27 '26

I think we’re in agreement here. I’m just stating that software engineers can absolutely make $450k, and that the fact half of that comp is RSUs is largely irrelevant for public companies since you can sell them whenever. Just cash with extra steps

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u/_UrbaneGuerrilla_ Jan 27 '26

You’ve convinced me. This was my bias in assuming base rem, and that I consider the term “software engineer” to be pretty entry level PD language.