Strictly answering the question posed: O(100M) USD. (evidence: all the "first engineers" at AmaGooFaceSoftFlix). If you are above average but not super smart,

Strictly answering the question posed: O(100M) USD. (evidence: all the "first engineers" at AmaGooFaceSoftFlix). If you are above average but not super smart, willing to put in hard work and have normal interpersonal skills (i.e. not being a total jerk, know how to talk to groups, know how to write effectively etc), here is how you can be a millionaire in 10 years: 1 year: Practice super hard for tech interviews. They are notoriously difficult, but all you need is good understanding of the best reference book for {Algorithms, Data structures, Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Databases}; which is basically what they teach you in undergrad CS. Online, you will find plenty of "how to crack google interview" links. Then apply to a few small companies as "warmup exercise". Finally, apply to all the big names AmaGooFaceSoftFlix in high-salary area (SV, Seattle, NYC) and get in one of them. next 9 years: 1. Give your best in the first 3-4 years. If your group is bad (mainly due to bad manager), suck it up - you can easily switch teams in most big companies within 18-24 months. 2. Aim for promotion every couple of years. Find senior people who are friendly, make friends with them (plenty of opportunities to hang out socially in your early years), ask them career advice from time to time etc. With this strategy, you will be E5 in FB or Senior S/W Engg in Google (or equivalent) in ~4-5 years. This level pays ~250-300K in Salary + Bonus + Stocks. Previous 2 levels should pay 150-170K and 200-230K. 3. Don't get daunted by "high cost of living" memes. If you are at a big company on a good trajectory, you can easily afford it in SV/Seattle/NYC. 4. Out of your total earnings, allocate 25-30% for taxes, 30-35% for living expenses, rest for savings (preferably 401K, Roth IRA via backdoors etc) in low cost index funds. 5. Beyond a certain level, either you will need a bit of interpersonal (political?) skills or super smart chops in some specific area to grow further. But decent knowledge of some stack plus hard work can get you to next level within next 2-3 years, at which point it starts paying really well - >400K, bulk of which is from stock grants. After 10 years, your savings will nicely grow nicely close to 1M USD. If you have have purchased house, your home equity may replace some of the liquid net worth. Disclaimers: 1. I assume ability to work in the US 2. I am not counting for outliers in either direction (some folks become director+ in 10 years, some folks languish). 3. I am basing this on my own experience and that of many of my friends. Again, we were lucky to work during a period of tech boom, cheap money, amazing stock rally etc etc. Who know what next 10 years will be.... but again, life is not that fragile either. 4. IANAL, IANACPA, yada yada...