While that's true (and on the other side, the analysis also doesn't consider tax rates), I think those are fairly minor compared to the effect of equity on comp

While that's true (and on the other side, the analysis also doesn't consider tax rates), I think those are fairly minor compared to the effect of equity on compensation. Looking at Dropbox as an example of a U.S. tech company that I picked at random-ish, I see compensation range from 40-165% higher than salary, which means a huge difference. https://www.levels.fyi/company/Dropbox/salaries/Software-Engineer/ https://www.levels.fyi/company/Dropbox/salaries/Software-Eng...