Accurate headline but incorrect analysis.<p>Big Tech pays like sports, not because of average salary levels, but because of the <i>spread</i> between highest and lowest paid engineers.<p>Let's say an entry level role in big tech pays about $200k per year in total comp.<p>It would not be surprising for your top engineer (Jeff Dean ~= LeBron James, e.g.) to rate north of $10m in annual total comp, so 2 orders of magnitude difference.<p>Multiples in sports are higher, but the point I'm making is that just as LeBron makes multiples of what a bench warmer does, so do the Jeff Deans of the world make multiples of what new college grads do. This is a markedly different landscape vs say, the late 90s when spreads were much MUCH tighter. Unfairly so in my opinion.<p>Disclosure: I work for Google but have no special knowledge of Jeff Dean's (or any other superstar) comp. I simply claim I wouldn't be surprised if I ever learned the real numbers. :)