$100k-a-day for H-1B visa? US entrepreneur backs foreign talent at any cost

A bold claim by a US tech co-founder on paying $100,000 a day for H-1B hiring has regained attention as IIT campuses spot striking recruitment banners

A US-based tech co-founder has stirred discussion online after saying he would willingly pay $100,000 per day if it meant hiring the best global talent for his company. The remark landed at a moment when many foreign workers are anxious about Donald Trump’s proposal to raise H-1B visa fees by $100,000.

 

Shahriar Tajbakhsh, co-founder and chief technology officer of the San Francisco firm Metaview, made the comment while replying to a user on X who argued that the H-1B fee should be charged every year rather than as a one-off payment.

 

What led to the exchange?

 

In September, Tajbakhsh posted on LinkedIn and X that Metaview was hiring H-1B candidates for multiple roles. “If you're on an H-1B visa and your company doesn't value you enough to pay the $100k, check out to see if any of our roles might be a fit,” he said.

 

The company also placed advertisements in India carrying the line: “Yes, we still sponsor H-1Bs. $100K won’t stop us.”

 

When one X user suggested that the fee should be applied annually, Tajbakhsh replied: “Make it per day. I’ll set up a recurring payment.”

 

Why did banners near IIT campuses fuel the debate?

 

The online discussion resurfaced last week after people entering the Delhi metro station near IIT Delhi noticed large banners from an AI recruitment firm. According to Bloomberg, the banners carried lines such as “We still sponsor H-1Bs” and “$100K isn’t going to stop us from hiring the best.”

 

The report said similar banners had appeared across top engineering campuses in India, making the campaign hard to miss.

 

For decades, graduates from IITs have moved to the United States to work in technology, finance and other fast-growing fields. Several now lead major global companies, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.

 

How do Indian professionals shape the H-1B programme?

 

Earlier this month, Tesla chief Elon Musk praised the contribution of Indian professionals to the US. In an interview with entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath on the podcast ‘People by WTF’, Musk said, “America has benefited immensely from talented Indians who have come to America… America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India.”

 

Indians continue to dominate the H-1B category, accounting for more than 70 per cent of approvals in 2024.

 

Who is Shahriar Tajbakhsh?

 

Tajbakhsh is the cofounder of Metaview. Prior to this, he worked as a software engineer at Morgan Stanley and later at Palantir Technologies. He studied Computer Science at University College London.

 

Tajbakhsh, who is of Iranian origin, has often spoken about prioritising talent over cost-cutting when building a technology firm. “When you sum up the value created by people’s hard work, $100,000 just doesn’t matter,” he said in an earlier interview with Business Insider.

 

“The only way to build anything meaningful that changes people’s lives is to have a world-class team. Trying to save money on talent is the most irresponsible thing a founder could possibly do,” he told the outlet.