Rs 2.5 crore package at IIT Hyderabad: How one Optiver offer rewrote campus records
The record offer has come from Optiver, a global trading firm based in the Netherlands
- Jan 2, 2026,
- Updated Jan 2, 2026 2:48 PM IST
When IIT Hyderabad opened its placement season this year, it did not expect its record books to be rewritten in a single interview. But that is exactly what happened when Edward Nathan Varghese, a 21-year-old final-year computer science student, secured a Rs 2.5 crore job offer, the highest package the institute has seen since it was founded in 2008.
The offer came from Optiver, a Netherlands-based global trading firm. Edward will join the company as a software engineer in July after converting a two-month summer internship into a pre-placement offer, capping a placement journey that was both swift and unprecedented.
From internship to record offer
Edward’s placement journey was unusually short. According to media reports, Optiver was the first and only company he interviewed with during the placement season. Two students were selected for the summer internship, and Edward stood out during the stint, eventually securing the full-time role amid stiff competition.
He credits his success to a combination of the IIT tag, a flexible academic curriculum, and the institute’s strong focus on coding and competitive programming from the first year itself.
Strong academic track record
Born and raised in Hyderabad, Edward later moved to Bengaluru, where he completed his schooling from Class 7 to Class 12. His performance in competitive examinations has been consistently strong. He secured AIR 1100 in JEE Main and AIR 558 in JEE Advanced in 2022, earning admission to IIT Hyderabad.
Alongside engineering, he also appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT), scoring a 99.96 percentile in 2025 and securing rank 120.
Leadership roles on campus
Edward’s profile extends well beyond academics. As per his LinkedIn profile, he served as the Overall Head at the Office of Career Services at IIT Hyderabad, leading a team of eight student managers and nearly 250 coordinators across placement and internship cells. Prior to this, he worked as an Internship Cell Coordinator for close to eleven months, giving him an inside view of how campus placements operate.
Interests beyond coding
Describing his interests on LinkedIn, Edward writes, “My interests span algorithms, competitive programming, finance and management. I'm eager to explore these domains and connect with like-minded individuals.” Both his parents are engineers, and the family has expressed pride in his achievement.
Why this offer stands out
Until now, the highest package at IIT Hyderabad was Rs 1.1 crore in 2017. In comparison, the top offers stood at Rs 90 lakh in 2023–24 and Rs 66 lakh in 2024–25. Edward’s Rs 2.5 crore offer not only resets the benchmark but marks a defining moment in the institute’s placement history.
When IIT Hyderabad opened its placement season this year, it did not expect its record books to be rewritten in a single interview. But that is exactly what happened when Edward Nathan Varghese, a 21-year-old final-year computer science student, secured a Rs 2.5 crore job offer, the highest package the institute has seen since it was founded in 2008.
The offer came from Optiver, a Netherlands-based global trading firm. Edward will join the company as a software engineer in July after converting a two-month summer internship into a pre-placement offer, capping a placement journey that was both swift and unprecedented.
From internship to record offer
Edward’s placement journey was unusually short. According to media reports, Optiver was the first and only company he interviewed with during the placement season. Two students were selected for the summer internship, and Edward stood out during the stint, eventually securing the full-time role amid stiff competition.
He credits his success to a combination of the IIT tag, a flexible academic curriculum, and the institute’s strong focus on coding and competitive programming from the first year itself.
Strong academic track record
Born and raised in Hyderabad, Edward later moved to Bengaluru, where he completed his schooling from Class 7 to Class 12. His performance in competitive examinations has been consistently strong. He secured AIR 1100 in JEE Main and AIR 558 in JEE Advanced in 2022, earning admission to IIT Hyderabad.
Alongside engineering, he also appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT), scoring a 99.96 percentile in 2025 and securing rank 120.
Leadership roles on campus
Edward’s profile extends well beyond academics. As per his LinkedIn profile, he served as the Overall Head at the Office of Career Services at IIT Hyderabad, leading a team of eight student managers and nearly 250 coordinators across placement and internship cells. Prior to this, he worked as an Internship Cell Coordinator for close to eleven months, giving him an inside view of how campus placements operate.
Interests beyond coding
Describing his interests on LinkedIn, Edward writes, “My interests span algorithms, competitive programming, finance and management. I'm eager to explore these domains and connect with like-minded individuals.” Both his parents are engineers, and the family has expressed pride in his achievement.
Why this offer stands out
Until now, the highest package at IIT Hyderabad was Rs 1.1 crore in 2017. In comparison, the top offers stood at Rs 90 lakh in 2023–24 and Rs 66 lakh in 2024–25. Edward’s Rs 2.5 crore offer not only resets the benchmark but marks a defining moment in the institute’s placement history.