Amazon is odd that way. Everyone has a base that low, even VPs. All of the comp is in RSUs and hiring bonus for the first two years. Even someone with a total comp of $1M a year will have a base salary of $250K, and a hiring bonus of $700K a year, and then RSUs that in theory make up the rest, as long as AMZN goes up at least 15% per year.

When the stock was on a tear, some people would make 2x or 3x their expected total comp. But on down stock years, you could end up at 80% of the promised comp.

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coredog64 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Until circa 2022 (IIRC), the absolute maximum cash comp even for someone like Jassy was $180K. They lifted that and then the next year made the RSU comp even worse (e.g. limiting your upside on annual grants by focusing on out year 1)

	▲	jedberg 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		It was $160K until 2022. I started in 2022 right after the limit was doubled, but they weren't giving anyone the full $320K because they "wanted to leave room for base salary growth".

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illusive4080 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Ahh ok so on an average year you do make a substantial amount.