I'm curious what's the difference between India and China in that it seems like there have been world-class R&D that has been done in China using local talent for a number of years now (from Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, etc), but haven't heard of many examples in India.

None of those companies can really escape China, so is it fair to call them world class? Even tencent’s most international operations are acquired rather than grown in China.

I mentioned London because it had one of the highest salaries in Europe. I don't have personal experience myself apart from what I saw in Glassdoor.

Cost of living adjusted salaries are what matters, and London has SV level cost of living at way lower salaries.

In Europe, Switzerland is most similar to the Bay area: high salaries, high cost of living and low taxes.

Low taxes? California has high tax right?

Not compared to Europe I suppose?

Last time I checked take home pay was lower in NY than London for someone earning around 150k before tax. Not sure if that holds true in California...

According to this calculator: https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

120k £ (equivalent of $150k at current exchange rate) becomes net 71135 £ which is 61.8%

In the state of New York: https://smartasset.com/taxes/new-york-paycheck-calculator

$150k gets you a take home that is 68% of gross. NYC imposes an additional local tax between 3 and 3.8% so in the worst case you’re still taking home more than 64% of gross.

Maybe the last time you checked $150k was a lot less in £ and therefore taxed at lower rates in the UK?

Potentially- I think I added in property taxes (about 1-2k/year in the uk) and healthcare (free on the nhs or if you’re earning 150k you’re likely getting heavily subsidised private care from your employer).

Don't know many making $150k in London, though. Maybe the Facebooks, Google's