I would bet Palintir/NSO/Cellebrite (and many other equally capable but way less publicly known defence contractors) pay their top software engineering talent F

I would bet Palintir/NSO/Cellebrite (and many other equally capable but way less publicly known defence contractors) pay their top software engineering talent FAANG comparable rates. They almost certainly also have just as many shittily paid employees that FAANG like to pretend they do not employ, offloading admin/janitorial/support staff to 3rd party “low caste” status employment. I’d also guess BD and Sales roles at those companies pay at least as well as FAANG too. Commissions on defence contracts are worth a lot more than selling another bunch of SaaS seats to some promising VC backed startup...