How Much I Made at Amazon in 18 Years (As a Principal Engineer)

[@eMotionAllDamAge_]

Here is the list of the yearly salary progression: * 2006: $35/hour as a contractor * 2007: $85,000 as a full-time software development engineer * 2008: $85,000 * 2009: $100,000 * 2010: $148,000 * 2011: $190,000 * 2012: $173,000 * 2013: $215,000 * 2014: $240,000 * 2015: $243,000 * 2016: $282,000 * 2017: $300,000 * 2018: $350,000 * 2019: $400,000 * 2020: $450,000 * 2021: $535,000 * 2022: $420,000 * 2023: $539,000 In 2024, he was expecting to make $732,000 but quit his job in May 2024.

[@RobertMcHalffey]

Your numbers are off. Not sure where you're getting them from.

[@mckratos06]

2023: $528.7k still a crazy Amt for Your Health

[@bakerstreet101]

Basically, software engineers went from getting paid like accountants to getting paid like heart surgeons and rockstars in the past 20 years.

[@FlatFootedLlama]

Unparalleled transparency, thank you!

[@samuelgunter]

I just finished a summer internship at Amazon and got paid a salary of $9,138 per month (minus taxes) plus a one-time housing stipend for $7,106.67 (after tax, with a "gross up"). I have a bit till i graduate but i was told by my manager to expect an offer letter in the coming months for a second summer internship

[@Hochiiiiii]

grats man!!

[@Crates-Media]

Truthfully, I am immediately impressed by everything about you, my friend. You even used one of my favorite adages: "Comparison is the thief of joy." IDK that we'll ever get the chance to actually be buds IRL, but, FWIW -- You've got a new fan for life in me. Thanks for your content and equanimity.

[@verb0ze]

Having an amazing wife can be the air under your wings you need to soar to higher heights. Your character as a man shows by the appreciation you show her in this vid, even when it wasn't necessary. Would love to hear your take one day on how you knew she was the one and how you guys build together, both from a financial and other aspects!

[@kalinda619]

I have to say, the disclaimer at the beginning was strikingly empathetic, from the perspective of a young guy in software. A refreshing take in the Hobbesian online world of Male content creators.

[@Neonb88]

Yeah Steve’s always been humble and polite. Seems like he’d be easy to work with, besides his obvious wisdom from years of technical and office-political situations Hopefully he does find a new job soon, though. However much he’s saved, the mortgage and child rearing costs must be huge

[@zyzhang1130]

Stark contrast to techlead ngl

[@patriciapomar4907]

Thank you so much for sharing your career progression. It is both impressive and inspiring and I agree that assymetric information prevents us for making informed decisions about both our career paths and opporunities knocking the door.

[@HL-uw7fk]

In EU, Germany these days they pay mid lvl like 75-80k so you started off quite good with 75k $. Not to mention your later years of career. Very nice! Good job!

[@MrAki28820]

Can't believe USA is paying 75$K in 2009 and Germany is still paying the same in 2024.

[@HL-uw7fk]

@@MrAki28820 EU and USA cannot compare, it was always big difference. If you would get something in AWS in USA it is likely few times more than what you would get in EU.

[@mikPet81]

The big difference is, this is US based, something that reflects x2/x3/x4 of what you get in most EU, let alone EEU. Also, the promotions in EU, or better said the "off-shored step-cousin offices" of the same company are waaaaay under what you get in US, this talking about faang to faang. Your progression in impressive, and important that your spouse is on the same level and even more important that you got a hefty amount of stocks, something again, EU jobs don't offer as many, regardless of rank. In the end, it's important that you managed to step away from the golden cuffs, not many get to, before it's too late.

[@user-ps3gr3ed1z]

Agreed, but a big part of that is how much $ the company must pay in taxes to the govt. in order for Europeans to get free/subsidized health care. Americans must pay for sub-par insurance and out-of-pocket expenses. Add that to the differences in time off / holiday.

[@mikPet81]

@@user-ps3gr3ed1z I understand why you would think that, most of the internet keeps that argument because it might have been true some decades ago, but today, it's nothing short of fake news. The entire EU healthcare is down the drain, you never actually get to benefit from it, but do get to pay 25% of your salary each month for something, you will never get. On top of if, you still need to go to private healthcare providers just as you, for anything. SO again, x4/x5 lower salaries, 45% tax + VAT of ~20/25% on top of it, add other taxes also, and you get the actual reality

[@binaryutopia7946]

after some time, 6 months I think, if you interview Amazon and even for the same level, you may be close to 1M TC, and mostly will be cash for the 1st 2 years. I see a few people quite and rejoin for this purpose

[@adamchoe7328]

Thanks so much for clear and transparent information. As non engineer, the base salary seems low. for instance, Tiktok, Google or Meta entry level TC is up to $250K and 165K base.

[@xTheITx]

Thanks for sharing all your experiences - as someone that helps software engineering students and professionals alike, you'vr inspiring me to be more open and candid with everyone about the realities of growing your career and making decisions that are best for you. You have incredible insights and I wish you much success so you can grow your positive impact across the community!

[@zacharym02]

Excellent video. Congrats on your time in big tech and good luck on your new journey. I am not an ambassador of fire, don’t even follow it personally, but have recommended it to many. If that type of content is aligned with your goals for this channel a true step by step ELI5 type of video on everything from identifying the non-disc spending to outlining the setup of separate accounts, the transfers, bill pay, savings, etc would make for a good video. I feel like people get paralyzed by the process. Anyway just a thought and good luck on your future ventures!

[@SC2Edu]

It's hilarious how Americans think that having 10 days of extra holiday is any way comparable to making 2x total compensation for the same job. Any tech worker can take 2 additional weeks off of unpaid leave a year, and still be up by 70-80% total comp, compared to anyone in the EU.

[@oladapoajala6518]

I'd love to read a book written by you about career, finances, and life.

[@HeartBrokenBiker]

Hey, ex-Purple badge :) I left Tech in 2010-2011 & full time geared towards other things in Life (including content creation as one of the hobbies) & so I can say Good on you, if this can boost your mental health & give you chance to explore different things in Life.. It will be very well worth it. You have worked very hard to get to principal Engineer, Bravo! (I totally understand what it takes to get there, esp in MAANG) & this decision of leaving it, could very well be a big dent in growth rate of your net worth (BUT, it will STILL be WORTH IT ) I loved the intro & how it resonates with my own thoughts about how I think about other professions & not value something by how much they make. If you're still in Seattle, and wanna ride Motorcycles, let me know. I don't have a Lambo or private jet, I may have interesting stories from my travel .. :)

[@sebastijanp3]

Could you make a video about what if you are those golden handcuffs as you named them and you got a lot of RSUs that get vested only in 3 years, but you are working in a team, where you suffer every day and they do not want to move you to another team?

[@Coufu]

It's crazy to think how much luck and stock market plays a factor. I was lucky enough to 4x my RSU which allowed me to buy a house in the bay area in 2021, but things have been tough since then. I started from almost no savings so I feel VERY fortunate and lucky for my situation, but I can only begin to imagine what it would have been like to be a company like Amazon during its meteoric rise for the much longer run. Thanks for sharing.

[@vladyslavsosnov8412]

Keep goint! Comment to support the channel

[@alexbrady6049]

I was not expecting you to bring up Financial Independence! Great way to plug that for engineers who may not be familiar with it.

[@ytrabbithole6893]

Software engineering is crazy (especially at these tech companies), I wish I was more interested in it. I became an ME, I like the work for the must part and I make ok money, but nothing remotely close to that and I think its a similar level of difficulty. Software is just so scalable in so many aspects, its very hard to justify paying someone making physical things a similar amount.

[@gouravkhanijoe1059]

Loved every sentence 🎉🎉

[@gabrielfono844]

I still new into my career. I initially graduated in civil engineering. I then started teaching myself coding and have been working as backend engineer for the past 2.5 years at Booz Allen hamilton. I recently interviewed at SAIC as mid-level backend engineer to support DOD ( department of defense ) and and the interview was great, I passed the technical and behavioral interview. I appreciate your video and support. Do you have mentorship program ? my goal is to grow my career up to a principal software engineer at the big company like google , apple , amazon and meta

[@King_Kanta]

Great video as always! Thanks for sharing!

[@rr2b]

Thanks for doing this! It was very informative

[@bradw2k]

I thought at Amazon SDE II is L5, and Principal is L7. Did you attain L6 somewhere between 2012 and 2020, or just skip it 🙂

[@elliottwarkus8643]

The graphic at 11:11 is mislabeled. Sr SDE is L6, so 2012.

[@sasukesuite1]

I really regret not doing comp sci. As an aerospace engineer my max salary is only $200k - $250k. I thought I was doing well making $193k as a 27 year old, but once this contract runs out I’m getting every cert I need to make it into FAANG. $500k as an engineer is a pipe dream and $700k is literally impossible. I’m not sacrificing my life for peanuts.

[@VectorA17]

Fellow mech eng here with an aerospace concentration who’s also 27 - don’t forget to take a step back and realize that you/we are doing incredibly well especially for our age. Nothing wrong with wanting more just want to keep that perspective in mind :)

[@Euphorica]

Traditional engineering isn't valued anymore and salaries are mediocre at best

[@terrible2d]

You have to remember that most software engineers are getting paid about what you get paid in cash, but just get more in RSU's. You're doing amazing man, almost 200k as a 27 year old is insane!

[@nomad_manhattan]

Always appreciate your generous sharing experiences and the transparency. I am in Product Management at Big Tech , and similarly, not form a CS background. I spent a lot of time to ramp up technical understandings. It is amazing you were able to transition into an engineering role with a liberal art background, which it is considerably bigger leap. Any advice you might be able to share for picking up technical skills with a demanding full time job :) Thanks

[@IsaacC20]

How does RSUs work as annual compensation? They just give you X RSUs each year and then you can turn around and sell it for profit/hold it?

[@littlebrit]

I sent them a bug feedback and it took them 6 months to fix it. Very basic error, but it caused customers to overspend. It is possible that they are paid too much for the quality of work they do.

[@codeintherough]

$75k in 2007 is like $116k today

[@DailyThingsInLife]

Exactly. Meanwhile I am making 84k in 2024

[@kingexplorers5077]

Nice!!

[@shellderp]

think about how much more he would have made hopping around companies, or getting some pre-ipo stock

[@sr-xd8jb]

Thriving in one company for 18 years is a rare feat today. Wow.

[@raidumurli]

Bro u every r very real I love u man.

[@TimPaddy]

How did you continue to receive RSU throughout your career? Are you given more RSUs, with their own new vesting schedule, as a performance bonus in later years? It's very hard to find info past 4 years; maybe most people quit...

[@newobo]

I can’t speak to Amazon specifically but yes in most big tech companies you get annual “refreshers” which give you more RSUs on a new vest schedule

[@erickrobles6365]

Did you get refreshers every year since you started working at Amazon?

[@lontongtepungroti2777]

amazing, thank you !

[@GreenJustin8]

What made you decide to quit this year instead of going another year or 2? How do you know you have enough?

[@masegraye]

You were underpaid at the end. That happens to folks who stay put in one place, sadly. Glad you’re on the other side now, in more direct control of your financial future.

[@ctjmaughs]

Enjoy. GL

[@doomlord271]

why is there such a big difference between 2019 and 2020? 172k rsu vs 374k rsu

[@OnePlanetOneFamily]

Amazon became very cash rich and borrowing was affordable in 2020, Covid was a big Driver for both of these

[@Eric-zs6rd]

How is it possible to make as much money doing KZbin as you did while working as an engineer despite the relatively small view/subscriber counts? Can you give a breakdown?

[@userxRQx93x]

As a blue collar worker this makes me hurt inside. I work 5x as hard and only make 68k.

[@dameow33]

Is that a BB58? Watch game strong as always

[@alexandraarato5000]

👏👏 - what's the big thing I learnt from this? going from one kid to two makes you quit your job :D well, not exactly, but I get what you're saying

[@blipblop92]

Really opened my eyes with these levels of salary. It may be as hard as going to Harvard in today's world though

[@jrumac]

double-team to man-to-man killed me lol

[@poohshmoo9892]

if it wasn't for the shares, amazon base is pretty low ... at least thats what I think

[@pedropichardo8280]

Great video, any bet on how old is he?

[@ALifeEngineered]

I'm 42.

[@Zhcwu]

Damn I did not know there were engineers that stayed over 3 years with Amazon.

[@adityathosar]

Are you looking for a video editor to edit your videos?

[@kylehurd2167]

Damn, he made more than me in 2007 than I do as a software engineer in 2024.

[@Mikebremnr]

Bro why wasn’t I doing this 18 years ago instead of being a lame ass baby

[@shockre91]

you didn't need to wait to have a kid before taking significant time off. being at Amazon for so long, you had the same amount of time off as europeans get. you just didn't use it, like most americans, and chose to grind to get promoted faster.

[@ajgoralczyk]

It's not true. In Poland you get 26 days off + unlimited sick days. You cannot get it in US. And if you are a woman you get 9 months of maternity leave. No company in US is even close

[@shockre91]

@@ajgoralczyk he was getting 25 days a year at Amazon in the US. Unused time off also carries into the next year. My comment was about him not taking significant time off and making an excuse he couldn’t until he got a kid, nothing to do with maternity or parental leave. On that topic, there’s 6 weeks of paid paternity leave and many more accommodations that can be arranged if desired where that can be extended or work days lowered to 2-3 a week for example. He could also take a sabbatical leave for months. He made like 7x more a year than one would in Poland on a similar position. He could take years of unpaid time off and still be better off.

[@elhadramyoubeid3911]

What is your education background?

[@normanfung7124]

I think I'm paying AWS too much so their engineers do Leetcode

[@s3trios]

Taxes must be killer

[@Coufu]

Nice

[@McFlashh]

Not everyone can become a principal engineer, even if you have the experience for it because the amount of spaces available for that role is very limited. But anyway these tech companies really do pay employees very well. But software engineers are very prone to getting replaced by AI.

[@dirty-kebab]

Let's goooo!

[@johnchu9460]

The dude is rich!

[@BGwControlStop]

I don't follow how this salary structure works Would Amazon pay someone like you 732K pretax for your role, What is the "base pay" 270K, At this rate your are making more than Medical specialists ie surgeons, good on you if you can get it,. Makes it more perplexing why you would walk away from it. at this rate your getting paid a lot more than many Head's of state

[@OnePlanetOneFamily]

he has enough. Amazon, like many tech companies print money so they can afford this level of engineering talent

[@BGwControlStop]

@@OnePlanetOneFamily My Experience with HR in corporate environments is they only pay this for Elite Talent, maybe that is the case here. These companies aren't charities if they don't see you delivering value , they are more than happy to give you your marching orders. but good luck to anyone who can command this type of salary.

[@i_youtube_]

Imagine quitting your 700k job?😮😮😮

[@kattihatt]

At some point you have enough, thats when its time to quit.

[@JamesJohnson-et7cc]

@@kattihatt true, Without a recognized purpose, our jobs can lead to stagnation, limited career mobility, burnout, and a salary plateau. When we operate solely for personal gain, it’s akin to merely breathing air-like animals: eat, sleep, poop, repeat. However, when we contribute to the greater good, we break free from this cycle and positively impact others, even if the world doesn’t always acknowledge it. I think that's what he is trying to do.

[@kattihatt]

@@JamesJohnson-et7cc sure. But if he is financially independent, why does he need sponsors, ads and get paid for courses etc? Doesnt make sense in my mind.

[@verb0ze]

You get to a point in life that more money doesn't bring you more joy. Why sit in an office grinding and doing things that no longer bring you fulfillment when you are financially free to try out new things? One thing you have to understand about high achievers also is that their value lies in the skills they have developed. He could go back and get another 700k job anytime, he has the experience for it ;)

[@mr.fusion9872]

well not entirely accurate. if he held on to stocks from 2008 those are now many many millions

[@MrLove2spooge]

"69" nice! Man of culture I see!

[@bnnrmn-q1u]

Can we see the proof? Some w-2 or 1099? offer letters?

[@DanielTorres-gd2uf]

nice ;)

[@Drraghavsethi]

$700k salary, I must be mature. 69 “nice”

[@ldslmikm9393]

What is youre age?

[@alexbrady6049]

Based on him graduating college around 2005, my guess would be 40-41.

[@ALFRED1223e]

Check your mail

[@stackowoflow]

did you actually make a bed of cash for the thumbnail lol

[@HasanRifino]

🚘👈💏🏘💏💏👪

[@HasanRifino]

👪👪👈💏❤

[@valsh6181]

nerd

[@karthikeyanagaraju4737]

first view and comment

[@BenardoBenitoFu]

Dude since you are making content as a business now, you should learn that any video you make should be about 10 minutes. This video was so long that it seemed made up. You don’t need to spend money on shitty stock footage. Give viewers real information in fewer minutes and the views will follow. Same amount of work for you either way, but you’ll look better.

[@calicomics701]

Sounds like decent advice. However, it might be better advice to just state the facts without the "you should know by now" statement because it sounds like ego is driving that comment opposed to trying to help a brother out.

[@Nicole-yy1kn]

18 years at Amazon and didn’t fix your teeth until you turned 40? 😂

[@Hopkins132]

You just got lucky, don’t act like anyone could do the same again, not even you.

[@jjortezzcre]

Salty🤒

[@MrTeslaX]

Blocking this guy. Tired of him packaging the same content with different subjects. How do people like him get to the principal role at Aamzon?

[@scrumpy615]

*Amazing video, you work for 4Oyrs to have $1M in your retirement, meanwhile some people are putting just $10K into trading from just few months ago and now they are multimillionaires*

[@Phanboy]

This is possible but also a sure way to end up on the streets just as quick

[@logicsandtrolls3616]

Anyone did total and could post here. Not ready to see this long video