By securing a staggering package of Rs 2.5 crore, a 21-year-old final-year computer science engineering student, Edward Nathan Varghese, has made history at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH).
How Did This Happen?
And why not! As so far, this is the highest package received at the institute since its inception in 2008.
Interestingly, this offer has been extended by Optiver which is a global trading firm in the Netherlands.
As per this proposal, Edward will join the firm as a software engineer in July as he has secured the position after converting his two-month summer internship into a pre-placement offer.
It appears that Edward has outshone another student who was also selected for the internship, during the internship.
Attributing Success To IIT Tag And Flexible Curriculum
While talking about this opportunity, Edward attributes his success to the IIT tag, flexible curriculum and strong focus on coding and competitive programming since his first year of engineering.
Moving ahead, Edward mentioned this was the first and the only company he interviewed for during the placement process as per the media reports.
The 21-year old student was born and raised in Hyderabad and later schooled in Bengaluru from class 7-12 and scored AIR 1100 in JEE Main and AIR 558 in JEE Advanced in 2022.
He has achieved a CAT score of 99.96 percentile and ranked 120 in the 2025 Common Admission Test.
It seems that Edward has been the Overall Head at Office of Career Services at IIT Hyderabad where he led a team of eight student managers and 250 coordinators across various cells to drive placements and internships as mentioned in his LinkedIn profile.
He has also worked as Internship Cell Coordinator for around eleven months prior to this opportunity.
Moreover, Edward mentioned, “My interests span algorithms, competitive programming, finance and management. I’m eager to explore these domains and connect with like-minded individuals,” while talking about his passion.
While talking about his family, he said that both his parents are engineers and are extremely happy and proud of his achievement.
Prior to this, the highest package received by any student at IIT Hyderabad was Rs 1.1 crore in 2017 and the highest package was Rs 90 lakh in 2023-24, and it was Rs 66 lakh during 2024-25.
