Desk·2026-10-27
Shop year trails lab paper by $128k on same title
Same software-engineer title. Jane Street prints the pure NY shop year. OpenAI prints the lab paper under it by about $128k. Bases sit twenty thousand apart.
OpenAI typical $653,000 against $525,000 at Jane Street.
SWE typical
OpenAI typical sits ~1.24× Jane Street
Same title. Lab clears $653k typical on a $270k base. NY shop clears $525k on a $250k base.
How to plan it
Sit the shop cash year or the lab paper seat
A 26-year-old planning 2027 should treat Jane Street and OpenAI as two next seats, not one high IC band. Jane Street software engineer prints $525k typical on the ledger with a $250k base, sample fourteen, six work-email, marked hot in New York. OpenAI prints $653k typical with a $270k base, sample twenty-three, eleven work-email, also hot. The lab leads typical by about $128k. The shop leads cash density: the year is almost all cash, top at $900k against OpenAI’s $1.37M. If you need the 2027 cash year and can clear the NY shop loop, sit Jane Street first. If you can hold paper and want the frontier product loop, sit OpenAI — but name the mix. Do not treat a $525k cash year and a $653k paper year as the same next seat.
Also: Jane Street vs OpenAI · Who pays SWE