Money begets money through investment, like gravity. In any random distribution of particles you'll eventually have black holes form with gravity.
People with this level of money are equivalent to kings or other monarchs. On some level it really isn't their money at the same time. When he dies, it's not his money any more.
I think IoT is even worse, since the actual tech isn't new or innovative, just being applied everywhere because it has reached a certain price point now. It's also a badly integrated insecure mess currently that has a lot of bugs. Which screams for a big player to take over.
When cheap unregulated Chinese clones start coming out of ultrasounds like this one: http://intelametrix.com/FullSite/ thats when you know ultrasounds can be cheap.
Total after tax compensation is still better in the bay area although when you compare total compensation at companies like Google and Facebook. So if your in the USA already it's would be a minor downgrade and a huge move. Immigration timelines are also about similar with about 10+ years necessary to become a swiss citizen like in the USA.
It's definitely an easier move for an EU citizen to do than the USA although from a family and immigration standpoint. But immigration wise it isn't hard to get an H1B or L1 visa since the hiring company will handle all of it. From there applying for a green card is pretty automatic. For canadian's and australians, it's even easier to immigrate, almost the same amount of work as moving to switzerland for an EU citizen.
Indian and Chinese people have a hard time with green cards in the USA because there is per country lineups. The immigration 'lines' for those 2 countries are much longer than any other nationality because of their population sizes. Switzerland or somewhere else in the EU might be more attractive from that standpoint, although I don't know if they implemented something similar there.
Cost of living wise CH is definitely more expensive. Housing costs are also close in SF and CH.
It's a financial calculation like everything else. Don't assume they do it for purely emotional reasons.
I chose to buy because:
1. It's significantly cheaper after tax deductions compared to renting in my area.
2. This is the highest paying area for the software labor market in the world, and I've looked compared to last 10 years. I don't really see anywhere else that would get better than the SF bay area.
3. It solidifies your housing costs. When prices are rising relatively rapidly, it can be a money saver, and over the long term, it's definitely a very large money saver because it locks your price in. That is a risky bet to make for sure.
You can end up with a housing bubble and being underwater for 5 years, or you could end up in somewhere like london or vancouver, where it goes up and stays up and by the time that 'bubble' pops, your 50 years old. But that is the same risk you take when you chose whatever profession you have as a career or by leaving your down payment savings in stock & bonds.
4. You have to compare against what your down payment would make in the stock market comparatively.
5. When you move away to better opportunities, you can just rent it, especially if rental prices have gone up a %5-%10+ since you bought and would cover the management fees. Maybe life will bring you back again, especially if you left from a pretty good market already.
6. If you save a lot of money, trading a fraction of your savings in down payment for a discounted housing cost for the rest of your life can be a good one time investment.