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Whenever I read these "I was at <faang> for 20 years and am now leaving" it always translates to "I have become unreasonably wealthy, mostly due to the company

Whenever I read these "I was at <faang> for 20 years and am now leaving" it always translates to "I have become unreasonably wealthy, mostly due to the company itself N-tuppling in value. And now after 20 years I don't need or care to have a day job that requires me to show up when I don't feel like it."

kardianos 1y ago
That's not what Ian said, and he always says what he means.
- _qbxi 1y ago
  It's possible for Ian to mean what he says, while also missing additional context (high net worth) that changes the perspective of the reader.
ryandrake 1y ago
I'm sure people who have worked at FAANG for 20 years aren't starving in the streets, but you don't know enough about their financial situation to predict whether they are "unreasonably wealthy." How much of their salary went straight in to their landlord's pockets? Towards student loan interest? Towards health issues, childcare, or taking care of extended family members? Maybe they tried investing and lost money. Heck, maybe they just prioritized travel over saving money, or something. You can't just assume someone has F-you money just because they worked for 20 years.
- abxyz 1y ago
  Anyone at Google from 2005 to 2025 is a multi millionaire many times over based on stock value alone. Even a savant at squandering money would struggle to come out of 20 years at Google without unreasonable wealth.
  - engcoach 1y ago
    It only takes a spouse with a personality disorder and a divorce to change the calculus.
  - gwd 1y ago
    People who are bad with money are bad with money, no matter how much money they have. Look up the financial problems Judy Garland and Johnny Depp have had, for instance.
    - sgammon 1y ago
      Squandering great wealth requires great wealth in the first place
      - gwd 1y ago
        Sure, but it's often the case that if you squander a small income you'll squander a large income. Obviously nobody can live in Silicon Valley on $10k/year; but if you find yourself struggling to stay within your means with $50k/year in a typical town, you'll find yourself struggling with $500k/year as well.
- spacemadness 1y ago
  For the most part, yes, yes you can.
  - NotAnOtter 1y ago
    I half-typed a longer message but when it came time to actually do math assuming some averages for annual saving, interest, google stock growth, etc. I decided it wasn't worth the effort. You wrote me original message with less words
- Aurornis 1y ago
  > How much of their salary went straight in to their landlord's pockets? Towards student loan interest? I don’t think comments like these really understand the incredible value of FAANG comp over the past 20 years. People who got and kept these jobs had a true golden ticket. Paying rent and student loan interest are a rounding error. These were not normal jobs in normal circumstances.
- sgammon 1y ago
  > You can't just assume someone has F-you money just because they worked for 20 years. At Google? You can. Or they spent it all, in which case the point still applies.
ikiris 1y ago
Dude you have no clue what you’re talking about. I used to love when I’d see him as my reviewer because somehow he had the code reviews back in minutes and was always great to work with.
- kridsdale1 1y ago
  The main reason I’ll quit Google one day is the feeling people have that code reviews can sit and wait for many days. I grind to a halt. So what you wrote is the most shining endorsement in this whole discussion.
neilv 1y ago
There's the fact that they almost certainly don't need to work another day in their life. But they probably haven't for many years. So their reasons for choosing now to leave are probably a bit more interesting not wanting to show up if they don't need the money.
laidoffamazon 1y ago
You’re forgetting that they also want the adulation that comes with leaving and everyone singing their praises. My dad and before him my uncle “retired” from tech at ~61 too, neither didn’t wrote a blog post
Cthulhu_ 1y ago
I'm reading something else; I think they would have been financially secure, if not rich, for the biggest part of those 20 years already - if they weren't, during the boom times they could've jumped ship a dozen times over already. Very, very few people actually work for that long for a tech company these days, at least in the IT sector in Europe.

kardianos 1y ago

That's not what Ian said, and he always says what he means.

_qbxi 1y ago
It's possible for Ian to mean what he says, while also missing additional context (high net worth) that changes the perspective of the reader.

ryandrake 1y ago

I'm sure people who have worked at FAANG for 20 years aren't starving in the streets, but you don't know enough about their financial situation to predict whether they are "unreasonably wealthy." How much of their salary went straight in to their landlord's pockets? Towards student loan interest? Towards health issues, childcare, or taking care of extended family members? Maybe they tried investing and lost money. Heck, maybe they just prioritized travel over saving money, or something. You can't just assume someone has F-you money just because they worked for 20 years.

abxyz 1y ago
Anyone at Google from 2005 to 2025 is a multi millionaire many times over based on stock value alone. Even a savant at squandering money would struggle to come out of 20 years at Google without unreasonable wealth.
- engcoach 1y ago
  It only takes a spouse with a personality disorder and a divorce to change the calculus.
- gwd 1y ago
  People who are bad with money are bad with money, no matter how much money they have. Look up the financial problems Judy Garland and Johnny Depp have had, for instance.
  - sgammon 1y ago
    Squandering great wealth requires great wealth in the first place
    - gwd 1y ago
      Sure, but it's often the case that if you squander a small income you'll squander a large income. Obviously nobody can live in Silicon Valley on $10k/year; but if you find yourself struggling to stay within your means with $50k/year in a typical town, you'll find yourself struggling with $500k/year as well.
spacemadness 1y ago
For the most part, yes, yes you can.
- NotAnOtter 1y ago
  I half-typed a longer message but when it came time to actually do math assuming some averages for annual saving, interest, google stock growth, etc. I decided it wasn't worth the effort. You wrote me original message with less words
Aurornis 1y ago
> How much of their salary went straight in to their landlord's pockets? Towards student loan interest? I don’t think comments like these really understand the incredible value of FAANG comp over the past 20 years. People who got and kept these jobs had a true golden ticket. Paying rent and student loan interest are a rounding error. These were not normal jobs in normal circumstances.
sgammon 1y ago
> You can't just assume someone has F-you money just because they worked for 20 years. At Google? You can. Or they spent it all, in which case the point still applies.

ikiris 1y ago

Dude you have no clue what you’re talking about. I used to love when I’d see him as my reviewer because somehow he had the code reviews back in minutes and was always great to work with.

kridsdale1 1y ago
The main reason I’ll quit Google one day is the feeling people have that code reviews can sit and wait for many days. I grind to a halt. So what you wrote is the most shining endorsement in this whole discussion.

neilv 1y ago

There's the fact that they almost certainly don't need to work another day in their life. But they probably haven't for many years. So their reasons for choosing now to leave are probably a bit more interesting not wanting to show up if they don't need the money.

laidoffamazon 1y ago

You’re forgetting that they also want the adulation that comes with leaving and everyone singing their praises. My dad and before him my uncle “retired” from tech at ~61 too, neither didn’t wrote a blog post

Cthulhu_ 1y ago

I'm reading something else; I think they would have been financially secure, if not rich, for the biggest part of those 20 years already - if they weren't, during the boom times they could've jumped ship a dozen times over already. Very, very few people actually work for that long for a tech company these days, at least in the IT sector in Europe.