He most likely won’t. The one exception is if he has an advanced degree and can show a financial house that he can build/run something for them that makes a crap ton of money for the firm. Even then it will probably not be all salary but a large part will be a bonus based on how much it makes the firm.

And, yeah, at least initially he’s going to likely have to live in a very expensive area until he proves himself.

I hit that level with a CS degree. But it was a more traditional route and it look many years. I broke 6-figures before 30 (and that was in 1990s dollars) but the rate of increase tends to slow down quite a bit after that unless you hit it big on an IPO or something like that. Thankfully I’ve never had to move to a big city. Some of my clients in NYC financial could have made more than I did, but their cost of living would more than even it out.

Many people don’t understand that it’s not how much you make, but how much is left.