IITian reveals he reached Rs 1 crore networth at 25, but there was a steep price he paid: 'Lost hair, lost weight'

A recent account shared on Reddit caught the attention of thousands of readers. A young professional, employed in the technology sector, revealed how he managed to amass a personal net worth of nearly one crore rupees within just four years of starting his career. The post was not only about the financial achievement but also a candid reflection on the hidden costs of such rapid success.

Hitting the Crore Milestone

The anonymous author began by explaining how he crossed the symbolic one-crore mark. By the age of 25, just before turning 26, he calculated that his holdings across equity investments in India and the US, mutual funds, fixed deposits, and liquid cash had reached this figure. Alongside, he held some employee stock options, which he chose to value at zero, and a few depreciating assets like a car and a two-wheeler. Land ownership had not yet entered the picture, though he hinted at eventually buying an apartment in Bengaluru with the help of a housing loan. Importantly, he stressed that he had remained debt-free so far and wanted to maintain that discipline as much as possible.

Salary Growth and Career Path

The poster traced his financial trajectory back to 2021, when he joined the workforce as a software engineer. His starting annual package was ₹25 lakh, split between base pay and stock options. In 2022, his pay rose to ₹32 lakh, and later that year, after switching companies, his package climbed to ₹45 lakh. By 2023, it had risen to ₹52 lakh, followed by ₹70 lakh in 2024. The current year, 2025, marked another milestone—he secured a promotion that pushed his compensation to an extraordinary ₹1.05 crore annually, consisting of ₹60 lakh cash and ₹45 lakh worth of restricted stock units.

He explained that his second company included a target bonus in the cash portion, meaning actual payouts were slightly higher. Alongside salary growth, he shared his personal net worth journey: starting from zero in 2021, he accumulated ₹11 lakh in 2022, ₹25 lakh in 2023, ₹54 lakh in 2024, and finally reached about ₹1.1 crore in 2025.

Family Background and Early Aspirations

Coming from an ordinary middle-class household, he emphasized that he had never asked for financial support from his family after graduation. For him, self-made wealth mattered more than inherited resources. Debt avoidance, he noted, gave him a crucial advantage in building savings.

During his college years, he often imagined what it would feel like to one day hold assets worth a crore. When he finally reached that milestone, the sense of achievement lasted only briefly before fading. The actual process, he admitted, felt more monotonous than he had expected. Initially, he thought the goal would take until early 2025, but discipline and income growth helped him reach it ahead of schedule.

Education and Professional Journey

The Reddit poster studied at one of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology. While that background provided some leverage, he argued that personal effort also mattered significantly. In his view, many peers without IIT credentials had reached similar positions because of exceptional skill and hard work.

At present, he works as a Senior Software Engineer at a company comparable in stature to FAANG firms. Leading a small team, he is responsible for a niche area of a larger product while also serving as a subject matter expert in related domains. Despite modest academic performance—he described his CGPA as mediocre—he always nurtured a strong passion for computers. Throughout college, he devoted time to building small projects such as open-source contributions and Discord bots. Those experiences, he believed, impressed recruiters at the startup where he began his career.

Life After Financial Growth

Interestingly, he admitted that life did not change drastically once his annual income crossed ₹40 lakh. He maintained habits like healthy eating, regular gym sessions, and investing in medical care. His hobbies and interests were well-funded. However, money altered his perspective in subtle ways. At some point, price tags lost significance.

He confessed to splurging on unnecessary items—PlayStation games worth tens of thousands that he barely touched, expensive gadgets lying unused, or upgrades to premium economy and business class on flights. These indulgences, while seemingly extravagant, became coping mechanisms against professional stress. After demanding work weeks, he preferred paying extra for a comfortable flight rather than compromising on rest with cheap, odd-hour tickets.

The Toll of Success

Alongside financial prosperity came severe pressure. He spoke openly about the toll of long hours and high expectations: hair loss, weight fluctuations, and at times, excessive alcohol consumption to manage stress. While he has since worked on healthier coping strategies, he acknowledged that material luxuries often became substitutes for mental relief. For him, small acts of indulgence—whether luxury travel or high-end entertainment—served as a way to balance the relentless demands of his job.

"The stress from work is extremely high. Quite literally, it breaks you down. I have lost hair, lost weight, at times drank alcohol very frequently just to cope with it. In my defense, I am taking better care of myself now..." he said.

Observations About Wealth and Spending

Through his experience, he made several observations. First, trustworthy financial guidance is difficult to find. Family and acquaintances, he felt, lacked awareness about managing large sums like ₹50 lakh, while banks and financial institutions seemed more interested in selling products.

Second, advice from self-styled internet gurus often sounded impractical. He gave the example of guidelines suggesting car purchases should not exceed one year’s salary, which he considered irrelevant since he was not aiming for luxury brands anyway.

Third, he realized that his perception of spending had shifted. A ₹3,000 pizza workshop or a ₹12,000 family dinner at a five-star restaurant seemed reasonable to him now, but whenever he expressed that casually, it invited puzzled reactions.

Fourth, he noted that no matter how much one spends on comfort and convenience, the total rarely exceeds a few lakhs a year. Even with premium fuel, costly gadgets, or high-end flights, he estimated his discretionary spending fell between ₹3–5 lakh annually.

Finally, he highlighted one area where he did spend thoughtfully: tipping delivery workers. Recognizing the challenges faced by food delivery riders who braved heavy rains for meager fees, he felt it was fair to tip them, even though he rarely tipped otherwise.

Community Responses

The post attracted varied reactions on Reddit. Some readers teased him about the stress-induced hair loss, while others acknowledged that his educational background and effort were equally vital to his achievement. A few users shared that they had reached similar milestones later in life, with one mentioning success at 31 despite graduating from a Tier-3 college.

Reflections and Advice

Summing up his journey, the poster described his work ethic as simple yet effective: complete assigned tasks on time, deliver quality results, and maintain reliability. In his view, success does not depend solely on mastering technical concepts like data structures or system design. Beyond a certain stage, what matters most is the ability to deliver outcomes that benefit the company. He also stressed the importance of finding mentors to guide one’s career, since self-study alone cannot replace the value of real-world experience and professional advice.