Silicon Valley engineer mocked for complaining he can't afford $10m home

A Silicon Valley engineer has been mocked for complaining that he can’t afford a home worth $10million, while also sparking a debate about the nature of wealth in the US.

The original Reddit post titled, “how are people buying these 10M+ houses - feeling frustrated after years of hard work” has since been deleted by the author, but a screenshot of the post has been shared on Twitter.

In the post, the unnamed individual bemoaned the fact he was unable to afford a luxury home worth upwards of $10million, despite the fact he was “a top 1% high performing professional”.

They wrote: “I’m mid 30s make in Bay Area, Eng Director at FAANG. Was just starting to make good salary but stock has tanked and both net worth (down to -2.5M) and income is severely down for me (bunch of my NW was still invested in my company and tech).

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“Meanwhile, I’m looking around the Bay Area and there are so many 10M+ houses, each of them being fantastic and very desirable. I’ve been a top 1 per cent student and now a top 1 per cent high performing professional all my life. I’ve been hard working , bold, driven for as long as I can remember now but now worry that I’ll never be able to afford a house like these.”

He added: “I’m not even sure if I’m on the right path - don’t know if even Senior Directors or VPs at FAANG can afford these even thought they are so few in number and they are the very best compensated people in the world.”

“Who are the people that are affording these mega rich homes and how are there so many of them (given there are so many of these lavish houses across the US)? I would assume some of these are owned by businessmen and business families but are there so many successful big businesses in the world that they can account for ownership of all these lavish houses? I thought the chances of running a successful big business were just as big in any other field.

“Just feeling down and wondering if I’m on the wrong path.”

Some were quick to criticise the post, with one writing: “Hasn't even considered the obvious issue, ‘what if I'm not happy when I get the $10m anyway?’

“If he even gets his shiny $10m object, his ego is going to be just as upset and envious of people that own $20m houses.”

Others didn’t criticise the poster, but made a wider point about wealth in the US. One wrote: “There's something in here about being a salaried employee not being enough to break into the upper echelons of American society. The poster experiences anxiety from having this realization after years of being top 1 per cent in school and work.”

Another jokingly said: “Just cut out the avocado toast and Blue Bottle visits. In all seriousness, this is just sad. Bro is making good money, has more than most, & has been sold on some perverted version of the American Dream. Maybe it’s just perspective that’ll come when he’s in his 40s”