Sharing because there's basically nothing out there on staff+ comp at Databricks. Went through the full staff SWE loop and received an offer about 3 months ago. Didn't take it (decided to stay put) but the numbers were real.
Staff SWE offer (Bay Area, ~10 YOE): Base: $245k Equity: $900k over 4 years Sign-on: $100k (year 1 only) Bonus: 15-20% target depending on company performance
Year 1 all-in value: roughly $570k at face value. They did not disclose a share price publicly but you can triangulate it from recent secondaries.
How the equity structure works at Databricks (as I understand it): RSUs with a 1-year cliff and monthly vesting after. The catch is these are not public shares. The equity value at grant is based on a 409A or internal valuation, not a market price. You cannot sell until a liquidity event (IPO, acquisition, tender offer). They have run periodic tender offers for senior employees. I was told one happened about 18 months ago and they "hope" to run them periodically, but that's not a guarantee.
What moved in negotiation: Base was very sticky. They said $245k was the top of the staff band. Equity is where they have real room. My first equity number was $720k. I pushed citing a competing staff offer at a public company worth more in expected value (because liquid), and they came up to $900k. Took maybe one email.
Principal level (one above staff at Databricks) is a separate calibration. I don't have numbers but heard it's meaningfully higher equity, like $1.2-1.6M range.
Ask about the tender offer history before signing. It's the most concrete data point on actual liquidity.