This billionaire founder made his first million at 27—years before Warren Buffett. His advice to Gen Z: Don’t ask for a raise, ask for equity

Picture this: you’ve just been offered a job after endless rounds of interviews and tests, when the interviewer asks, “What are your salary requirements?” According to one billionaire, the number you should be asking for isn’t a salary at all.

Dylan Taylor, the founder of space-tech company Voyager Technologies, became a millionaire at 27—five years before Warren Buffett hit the same milestone. His advice for Gen Z hoping to grow their wealth in the current economy? Stop negotiating for a bigger paycheck, and start negotiating for equity instead.

“I think it’s very difficult to make a lot of money working for somebody,” Taylor tells Fortune. “There’s two different ways to make money: income and equity. Whether you’re an employee or a founder, I think you should push for more equity and less income. That’s really what compounds over time.”

It’s advice Taylor took himself, long before he made his fortune in space. “I always wanted equity as opposed to higher base salary,” he says of the employment deals he negotiated early in his career. “I think that ended up being very wise.”

It did indeed. Taylor made his millions running public companies across electronics, finance and banking, while also investing in real estate and various companies including Robinhood, Relativity Space, and Calm. 

Now, thanks to the return on investments he made from his twenties and Voyager’s IPO, he’s a billionaire.

Fortune reviewed a summary of his financial records, which verifies his billionaire status.

How entry-level workers can ask for equity instead of a raise

Taylor’s advice isn’t just for founders or executives with leverage to spare—he says even a 24-year-old, a few years into their career, can ask for equity over income. Not only that, but he says most employers would be impressed because it shows how seriously you’re invested in their firm.  

“If someone came to you and said, ‘I actually want to make less money, but I want more of the value we create together’—I think most bosses, assuming they’re not totally insecure and see this person as a threat, would welcome that.” 

Most managers, he adds, are open to that conversation even if they don’t personally have the authority to approve it. “They might have to run it up to the next level, but from a company standpoint, it makes a lot of sense, too. With equity, you only really pay on success.”

Not every industry will bite, Taylor admits. “If you’re working for an industrial valve company in Newcastle, I’m not sure you’d be able to do that. But if it’s a tech company, they’re issuing options—so there’s no reason why you can’t ask the question.” 

And even if the answer is no, he says, that’s still useful information for both you and your future boss. 

“You could just say, ‘Okay, well, at what point would I be eligible?’ I think it really reframes you in their mind. It’s like, this is someone who’s focused on creating value. I think it’s good signaling.” 

His other piece of advice for young people trying to build wealth is almost as bold as asking bosses for equity: a barbell investing strategy. That is, putting the bulk of your money somewhere safe, and a smaller slice somewhere genuinely risky with potentially higher returns. “As crazy as it sounds, you’d have 70% of your money in the FTSE 100, and 30% in Bitcoin,” he adds. “It seems crazy, but I think those strategies work.”

He’s not alone: Martin Mignot and Ramit Sethi became millionaires before turning 30 thanks to early investments

Taylor isn’t the only self-made millionaire telling Gen Z to chase equity over income

Martin Mignot, the first investor in Deliveroo, similarly became a millionaire before turning 30. While other twenty-somethings were climbing the corporate ladder, he was busy investing in some of Europe’s most iconic startups, including Revolut, Trainline and Personio. By his late 20s, the millennial had cemented his reputation as one of the industry’s most notable investors—and made his first millions along the way.

He’s now a partner at Index Ventures—the firm behind early bets on Figma, Scale AI, and Wiz—and his advice for Gen Z boils down to the exact same principle as Taylor’s.

“It’s about owning equity, that is the key,” he previously told Fortune. “The best career accelerator you can have is joining a Revolut, Robinhood, or Figma early enough—and you don’t have to be the first employee. If you’re employee 100 or 200, you’re going to make a lot of money.”

And for those who don’t work for a company that offers stock options, Netflix’s finance guru Ramit Sethi, the New York Times best-selling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, recommends a far less glamorous strategy: automate your investments into a low-cost index fund, then leave it completely alone. 

“Timing the market is for suckers,” he told Fortune. “Treat your investments like a Thanksgiving dinner. Put the turkey in the oven, close it, and let it cook for the next 30 years.”

“When you’re young, you have one luxury that no one else has, and that is the luxury of time,” he added. “When it comes to investing, time is one of the most powerful allies to live a rich life and grow your investments. So one of the most important things is to be consistently investing even $50 a month, starting from as young as possible.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com