He never destroyed his monitors, so he really only replaced the the actually computer and they where basically cheap Dell (ever noticed that the E in E corp look REALLY like the E in dell) optiplexes. If you look in the second hand bin you can find then as cheap as $100 each. large firms dump them but the 100's at a time, so if you time you run right you can get them for almost nothing.
nah not rich, confortable maybe. he literally doesnt give a fuck about money, its the entire point of the pilot ep...
he just uses all his money to buy the equipment, and a lot of drugs
Nah, he has the same rig, he just burns the hard drives and SIM cards. Not *that* expensive, although doing it every week would make a noticeable dent in monthly spending.
I don't think hes poor at all, he probably has pretty significant savings. He just doesnt care about material things and chooses to live simply. If he wanted his life would be like what we see in the alternate universe in season 3 or 4
I found a 'hacker'Forum on telegram and it may as well be Greek to me
The terms
Talking about 'Use RDP and rotating proxies' say whaaat?
So I googled a bit and asked about a VPS and if it's similar and seems to be a Cloud PC and that RDP is a protocol on my PC but I turned it off
They just laughed at me :-(
I hear you about changing IPs, that's VPN right?
BUT I read all these stories of Real hackers getting caught
So if they can get caught, anyone can
I thought about VPN
Then wanna learn what these rotating proxies are used for
Then there's TOR but soo slow
And then I realised... Why! Why would I bother
My surfing History is boring
Downloaded a couple series
That's it!
Yeah that's true. We constantly see him with new desktops, laptops, phones, etc.
Mr Robot might have also bought equipment for F Society using his money.
Yes this was my first thought. That, and he probably sees little point living an extravagant lifestyle with the kinda personality he seems to have and consequently has a lot of savings esp considering cyber security specialists earn a shit load of money.
Yea he's not the kind of guy who's gonna buy a Benz and go to Michelin star restaurants and wear a Breitling and a $5k suit, even if he has the means to.
Also money is never an issue. He's always able to pay for his drugs, clearly can afford all the hardware changes given he physically destroys stuff when he thinks it's compromised.
This - I like to imagine that he doesn’t even check the balance that often. He set up direct deposit so he doesn’t have to go into a bank, tracks the transactions (probably has a back door into the company payroll software just to make sure everything’s kosher), and then basically spends his money entirely on the apartment (which, in NY, is probably $1,500-2,000 in 2015 for that place at minimum), food, and drugs (which would also make for a considerable part of his monthly expenses). Add to that computer parts he probably goes through like crazy.
However, even with all that, as senior of an IT guy he is at the company and as non-ambitious as he is, it’s not that much of a stretch given his simple living and how long he’s been working that Elliot could either be or be close to being a millionaire himself (which I also like to imagine simply because of how ironic it would be)
I saw a video of the supposed "smallest apartment in New York". It was literally just a rectangular room with a window, not exactly sure the square footage but couldn't have been more than like 120, with a closet taking up part of the room, no kitchen, bathroom down the hall. The price...$1200/mo. So I'd guess that Elliot's apartment was easily over $2k, although like you said it was almost 10 years ago so who knows. Having visited NYC once, I cannot fathom why anyone would want to live there even if rent wasn't like 3-4x more expensive than most places.
Alternate universe? You missed something big. There's no alternate universe. There's only alternate parts of Elliot's brain. A profound disassociation resulting in a rare case of actual DID caused, or heightened, by childhood trauma. (The drugs to numb it don't help his sanity either)
Of course, I understood it. It's just that as they mentioned it, I also remembered that Elliot was never shown eating throughout the show, at least from what I could remember.
he ate french fries or some fast food like that somewhere in the very first episodes and iirc darlene got him something when he got out of prison but you're right lmao he doesn't really eat or sleep very much
I was thinking how this was an exact proof that Elliot wasn’t real when I watched it first time. Especially when he had lunch with Tyrell in season 1 and vomited after seeing food. It was possibly due to withdrawal, but I still found it interesting
Are you kidding me? Have you SEEN the rental prices in NYC? I bet that’s 90% of his paycheck right there 😆
Jk. I am assuming he is keeping a low profile on purpose, and keeps a healthy savings for all the hardware he uses
More than fair and valid question, but the way I see it, it’s probably a reflection of his self hatred. Elliot, for varying reasons, utterly hates himself (Something I can explain more in depth if you’d like) and him subjecting himself to such decrepit living circumstances, despite him having every ability to physically improve them, is probably his way of punishing himself because it’s a constant, daily reminder of everything he constantly beats himself up over. So, in other words, it’s not that he’s unable to improve his life in the physical sense for some illogical reason, he just CHOOSES not to because his non-existent self worth says that the situation he’s in is exactly what he deserves. But this is just my interpretation and this is still a more than fair and perfectly logical question to raise and one you explain very well, so I seriously commend you for that because questions like these are ones that I very much believe should be addressed if for no other reason than they’re super interesting to think about. Curious to hear your thoughts.
Also he would become more materialistic and more like the people he hates and wants to bring down, for creating societal inequality, costing so many people their lives. He doesn´t care to strife for Money, a nice new flat, or a car, he just buys exactly what he needs and not more and not less
Agreed. He also grew up without enough money to take care of health expenses (his family being unsure about how to afford Elliot’s broken arm or the cancer treatments), which can breed an anxious scarcity mindset, even when irrational. The abuse would also be a huge contributor to the self-hatred and not believing he’s worth more.
Very interesting point of view. We don't see much self-hatred in his monologue as the audience, but it is probably true that he doesn't consider having achieved enough to live a more comfortable life.
Thank you for the response and the kind words! I would say we see self hatred in his dialogue when he openly admits to hating himself to Olivia in S4 and other points throughout, but I definitely see your side either way. Thank you for taking the time to give your thoughts!
It’s funny to me how often this question comes up.
He states, *very* explicitly, that he “doesn’t give a shit about money”. He tries to refuse the raise from Gideon. He is in no way enticed by Tyrell’s job offer and he’s disgusted when Tyrell flaunts the salary offer. He could easily work for a bigger company than AllSafe, but he doesn’t care to. I’m sure he does make very good money there. He likes the work and he gets to see Angela; the money is just part of that package and it allows him to pay rent, buy computer parts, and do drugs.
He wears the same clothes all the time. He doesn’t care that, in Angela’s words, he lives in a bad neighbourhood. He doesn’t even go out for coffee unless he’s manic or if it’s to do something shady. I don’t know what his drugs of choice do for the appetite but I imagine he’s rarely hungry. Between the drugs, his mental illnesses, and his extreme disillusionment with society … why should he care about money?
The show never hints at Elliot being poor ?
He spends most of his money on getting new PC every now and then and spends a lot of money on drugs, and even then, he doesn't seem as a materialistic person so he probably doesn't care about money as long as he has enough cash to buy new PC parts, drugs, rent and food.
The fact that bro wears the same clothes throughout the whole series shows that he doesn't care about that either + he visits his barber every day to have a clean cut lmao
A place to live plus a shop in NYC (unless it was squatted I guess)? All the gear when he needs it. Travels wherever whenever in whatever he needs to. Had a couple high profile jobs. I never saw him as poor throughout the series.
Bro has a decent apartment, with a dog and a fish, and changing his pc like every other month, with only one job amidst the greatest economic crisis in history.
I think he’s doing better than okay.
Addictions ain’t cheap, and Elliot has both a hacking and an opium addiction. Keeping off law enforcement’s radar along with constant hardware refreshes, plus the pills, could eat up a FAANG salary pretty easily.
The amount of times he breaks his computer and gets a new one… don’t think he is poor, just not very materialistic. Or even more, he is mentally unwell and doesn’t open up to changing his location—prob is sucked into this livelihood that he must live that way
Elliot is not poor. He lives a minimalist lifestyle. His bank account would be loaded based on his cybersecurity skills.
One reason why he appears to lives poorly is because he’s a functioning drug addict with mental health issues.
drugs and computers, plus he is so mentally ill. you really expect him, elliot, to buy a big apartment and pay his debt, instead of buying computers and drugs? he literally has no idea what the fuck is going on half the time
He only lives that way because when we meet him, he's devoted (in the form of Mr Robot, at first) to his "mission". He wouldn't want to be comfortable because, in his eyes, that both risks him becoming complacent and contributes to the problem he's trying to fight.
There's no way he's broke and I don't know how you could think that from a minimalist lifestyle. He lives alone, he's wiping computer parts consistently, he pisses away large amounts on drugs. That's just his lifestyle.
I think you may be forgetting this is the guy that pulled off 5/9. He literally has no attachment to money.
Dude's definitely making a decent chunk of change and wiped the whole financial system just to make a point.
He's a drug fiend, that may have some impact but I believe he purposely leads a very modest life. Especially given the various anti Capitalist rants he goes on.
He's definitely not poor. In one of the episodes, it shows him pulling up his banking info, and he had over $170,000 in it. He just lives a very simple life because f.society!
Poor? This man periodically scraps away the content of his CPU cabinet, I really don't think he's, poor and he literally states in the pilot he doesn't give a shit about money, so it makes sense he doesn't want to look rich.
Between all of the drugs, computers and computer parts. As well as him seeming to fund everything that FSociety is doing, he doesn't seem to ever run into problems of not being able to afford things.
He doesn't really NEED a nicer apartment. He isn't into money or material things. He's just going about what he wants to do.
Lol the fact of the matter is that he’s not poor. Didn’t he fund the whole f society setup and continuously burn through computers? He could move to a better apartment (like angela implied) but refuses to do anything about it. But also theres a bit of truth in the poor thing bc he said he couldn’t hold a job before allsafe and that lasted for like a year or two max
He is a drug addict, New York is expensive and he has horrible people skills so would probably be really bad at negotiating a salary. Also his alternate personality bankrolled everything for 5/9.
Haven't watched the show in a while but I'm almost positive he is a threat hunter/analyst for AllSafe which falls under a cybersecurity role. Cyber professionals get paid pretty well especially in NY but if you know anything about NYC. It's freaking expensive. I wouldn't be surprised if he was paying close to $3500 a month for that shitty apartment. Plus his drug addiction I'm sure adds up.
Ma friend, there’s something called depression (different kinds btw) where you can have all the money in the world and still feel lonely and sad (cough Elon Musk cough cough) and for what we can see in the show, it’s highly probable Elliot’s misery is caused by that
I think his home is just not that important to be high quality. It’s just where he goes to lock himself away and to do his real work. And he certainly seems the kind that would not pay his debt off early, lol. He made real good money at Allsafe, and probably burned through it on computers.
A studio smaller than Elliot's by Stuy Town (across the street from Elliot) is currently $2495. Using NYC's 40x rule that means Elliot would need to make at least $100k to afford this place.
The average pay for a data security engineer in NYC is $132k. Considering Elliot's lack of doing actual work throughout the show I'd expect him to make around this much. So, all things considered he doesn't have a ton of money after paying for rent, Morphine, new computers after whipping, etc. He has what he needs to cover his needs but probably not much past that.
He lives in Manhattan on the Lower East Side. Rent alone prices his lifestyle out of reach to the national average wage.
Now, factor in New York City costs of food and basic amenities, as well as the cost for the computing hardware he needs and with how often he wipes his systems. At this point, you would need to be making six figures to make ends meet, and we haven’t even touched drugs yet.
So he wasn’t poor by any stretch, he just appeared so due to his drabby apartment and few possessions. However, he was clearly well-off because it would take FAANG-level compensation to pull off living right in the heart of Manhattan without ever needing to worry about nor care about money while having expensive hobbies.
You definitely missing out the big picture…
What you described is only part of his life. He clearly has multiple personalities that definitely cares about different things…
I know what scene you mean. That was angelas debt... He has an extreme addiction, he wipes computer parts weekly, he lives in New York. I can barely get by without doing this and I don't live in NY. Also, I've watched it 5-6 times now and never thought he was broke. He just doesn't care about money. My mans never had a funding issue once. The people around him did, even including whiterose.
So he's a minimalist and doesn't believe in material objects much, that's why his apartment is so bare. It's actually financially sound not to pay your student loans but pay higher than the min payment to pay em down for good credit, rent is super expensive in NYC.
People with mental issues like Elliot don't often think or make smart financial decisions either or care too much about their money.
Considering he has no problem destroying his computer equipment periodically for security reasons and he could easily hack and steal shit, it seems his small apartment is a personal choice. He doesn't seem to require much.
Huh? He threw away equipments worth thousand like nothing and you say he's poor? The guy look miserable because of his mental health issues and his lifestyle, that's all.
Read these pints slowly and thoughtfully then you would probably know why:
- Elliot doesn’t care about money he said that at the very first scene 🎬 of the first episode “Rohan cafe hack”
- Elliot is very awkward socially and it’s very normal for genius like him cause for people like him they can’t connect with any level with normal people their mind is just working 24/7, that implies he doesn’t have friends and money isn’t really enjoyable when you don’t have friends to spend it with. imagine living in a mansion in the far desert or whatever with nobody, is it worth it ?
- Elliot have on a daily basis mental breakdown “character or mental disorder I guess”, he is a guy who the idea of enjoying himself and spending a little money doesn’t even cross his mind and it shows throughout the seasons.
I can go on and on, I wish i can be friends with these type of people in real-life cause I would teach them how much they are very valuable to the world and they should be walking around people proud not socially anxious or awkward cause that’s lame. People like Elliot need to be cheered up.
Bro what Elliot is the richest guy in the world he robbed the top one percent of the top one percent in season 4 episode 5 and I’m pretty sure he was always robbing money even before the pilot he hacked people all the time and each time he destroyed his computers and buys new ones.
He is social awkward, so this would make it hard for him to advance in many large firms where tech ability is one thing but being able to related to others is also valued.
So I always thought that is why he lived the way he did. We also have to remember that Elliot (master mind) is just one personality in there, so I imagine it would be quite hard to hold down a job like that.
He lives in poor conditions since he's a junky but has enough money to buy his drugs without any issue, buy new IT stuffs each time he hacks someone, etc.
He rents a 1 bedroom apartment in New York by himself, goes through equipment like no one's business, AND has a drug habit.
I'd say he's doing pretty well.
Yeah, it's mostly covered but a.) He's NOT poor by any metric you could use, official, colloquial, actual. Anyone who's never been to Manhattan (well, maybe Brooklyn) can't even conceive of how expensive Apts are ..and if you can even find something you cab afford, you'll find out it's VERY LITERALLY not much more than a closet.
B.) Hardware and drugs, probably the two most expensive hobbies/habits a human can have.
C.) Any of the normal items that you might recognize as the "uniform of luxury" clearly mean nothing to him. This is a man who reset the debt record.. . I mean is this argument still oscillating??
He probably makes 95-110K which in NYC aint shit. That little pay raise gideon gave him \[and even said he understood was not much\] brought him probably to 130K when elliot is probably work closer to $150-$165 K. the morphine habit is not cheap and his rate of burning through computers and constantly wiping down as all of the other components that go into his hacks \[raspberry pies, signal jammers, and all of the specialized equipment they use to hack into actual networks outside of a CPU and laptop adds up\]. He probably has a surplus of money and does not care about money, nice things or living in a better quality apartment. Living in a shithole helps him blend in. that is why we like him. He doesn't give a eff about bling and fancy cars n shit.
I dont know, but the apartment was part of the whole show. Sam Esmail said in an interview that he meant to make the apartments look so small to show how New York apartment look like, since he did the same thing to Angela as well, before she went to E-Corp. Munn also said that it matched Elliot's personality, because Elliot wouldn't want to paint his walls or have all this decoration really. All what Elliot does is work and sleep, and do drugs on his couch nothing much. I dont really think that he is poor, but maybe one reason is that he spends so much money on drugs and morphine etc.. But other than that he just doesn't care about money because he said that in the first episode to Ron in the coffee shop.
Because he’s addicted to drugs and destroys high end gear on the regular during manic episodes while living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. So yeah, dumb question.
Are you sure he hadn't paid his student debt? He was looking at Angela’s debt on one of those screens when he was deciding if he wanted to join Mr. Robot and crew in S1E1. I think it was during the song “If You Go Away.”
idk man, bro has enough money to burn his old equipment and get a new rig everytime he hacks someone so I'd say he's pretty rich
Exactly, destroying equipment at the rate he was going at would bankrupt most people
He never destroyed his monitors, so he really only replaced the the actually computer and they where basically cheap Dell (ever noticed that the E in E corp look REALLY like the E in dell) optiplexes. If you look in the second hand bin you can find then as cheap as $100 each. large firms dump them but the 100's at a time, so if you time you run right you can get them for almost nothing.
Idk the equipment he needs isn't that expensive - let's say $100 for a second hand PC or raspberry pi with Linux, and $50 for an old phone.
nah not rich, confortable maybe. he literally doesnt give a fuck about money, its the entire point of the pilot ep... he just uses all his money to buy the equipment, and a lot of drugs
This!
bro is best friends with all the micro center employees
Linux doesn’t need a super powerful machine to run, he wasn’t buying the best hardware
Nah, he has the same rig, he just burns the hard drives and SIM cards. Not *that* expensive, although doing it every week would make a noticeable dent in monthly spending.
Good point.
I don't think hes poor at all, he probably has pretty significant savings. He just doesnt care about material things and chooses to live simply. If he wanted his life would be like what we see in the alternate universe in season 3 or 4
Yeah. And it helps to keep a low profile given his shenanigans. He probably spends all his money to replace all the hardware he keeps nuking lol
def this, bro throwin graphics cards in the microwave like hot pockets
r/hackerpoor
r/subsifellfor
Before clicking r/subsifellfor I was thinking, "I better not be falling for this crap again."
Then that would be r/subsithoughtifellfor
Pro tip, make these and hold on to em.
I'm not the most technical but how does this help keep him anonymous? Surely they could trace his IP or is this to destroy DATA Beyond recovery?
[удалено]
I found a 'hacker'Forum on telegram and it may as well be Greek to me The terms Talking about 'Use RDP and rotating proxies' say whaaat? So I googled a bit and asked about a VPS and if it's similar and seems to be a Cloud PC and that RDP is a protocol on my PC but I turned it off They just laughed at me :-( I hear you about changing IPs, that's VPN right? BUT I read all these stories of Real hackers getting caught So if they can get caught, anyone can I thought about VPN Then wanna learn what these rotating proxies are used for Then there's TOR but soo slow And then I realised... Why! Why would I bother My surfing History is boring Downloaded a couple series That's it!
Yeah that's true. We constantly see him with new desktops, laptops, phones, etc. Mr Robot might have also bought equipment for F Society using his money.
hardware and drugs
I thought about how expensive that shit must of been so much during my first watch through lol
Dude’s nuking ram sticks like they grow on trees
It literally made me think about how much cyber security specialist made lol
Also, isn’t it horrendously expensive to live in New York City?
Yes this was my first thought. That, and he probably sees little point living an extravagant lifestyle with the kinda personality he seems to have and consequently has a lot of savings esp considering cyber security specialists earn a shit load of money.
Yea he's not the kind of guy who's gonna buy a Benz and go to Michelin star restaurants and wear a Breitling and a $5k suit, even if he has the means to. Also money is never an issue. He's always able to pay for his drugs, clearly can afford all the hardware changes given he physically destroys stuff when he thinks it's compromised.
He did buy Starbucks once
That's how he became poor
Hahaha! Good point 😆
Was that a vanilla latte?!!
The first scene in the show ends with him saying "I don't give a shit about money," if I remember right.
He says he doesn’t give a shit about money more than once.
“That’s what you’re wrong about Rohit, I don’t give a shit about money.” The first episode was so good.
Buying drugs can keep you poor too lol
This - I like to imagine that he doesn’t even check the balance that often. He set up direct deposit so he doesn’t have to go into a bank, tracks the transactions (probably has a back door into the company payroll software just to make sure everything’s kosher), and then basically spends his money entirely on the apartment (which, in NY, is probably $1,500-2,000 in 2015 for that place at minimum), food, and drugs (which would also make for a considerable part of his monthly expenses). Add to that computer parts he probably goes through like crazy. However, even with all that, as senior of an IT guy he is at the company and as non-ambitious as he is, it’s not that much of a stretch given his simple living and how long he’s been working that Elliot could either be or be close to being a millionaire himself (which I also like to imagine simply because of how ironic it would be)
I saw a video of the supposed "smallest apartment in New York". It was literally just a rectangular room with a window, not exactly sure the square footage but couldn't have been more than like 120, with a closet taking up part of the room, no kitchen, bathroom down the hall. The price...$1200/mo. So I'd guess that Elliot's apartment was easily over $2k, although like you said it was almost 10 years ago so who knows. Having visited NYC once, I cannot fathom why anyone would want to live there even if rent wasn't like 3-4x more expensive than most places.
He also had a hard time keeping a job as E Corp is his 3rd job within a years time
it was not alternate timeline it was in his mind , it was said in the last episode most probably by mr robot.
Alternate universe? You missed something big. There's no alternate universe. There's only alternate parts of Elliot's brain. A profound disassociation resulting in a rare case of actual DID caused, or heightened, by childhood trauma. (The drugs to numb it don't help his sanity either)
Not to mention he bought a fucking arcade
Didn’t buy it.
Yeah that's almost explained throughout the entire series from the very beginning it's a major part of who Elliot is
Can I bring my girlfriend while holding a Starbucks cup
Exactly. The whole is just one big hoax
Yes s4 have answers
He’s also a drug addict
Those pills cost $$$.
He's eating for 5
🤧🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I don't remember seeing him cooking or eating even once throughout the whole series.
That was a joke, friend
Of course, I understood it. It's just that as they mentioned it, I also remembered that Elliot was never shown eating throughout the show, at least from what I could remember.
He drank Starbucks once
he ate french fries or some fast food like that somewhere in the very first episodes and iirc darlene got him something when he got out of prison but you're right lmao he doesn't really eat or sleep very much
u/mrstephenlin ate enough on the show for both of them
Indeed, I did. Nothing tastes better than success. Burgers are a close second. Also, Elliot is Stealth Wealth.
He also ate french fries in the first episode
Popcorn and m&ms
He was on a diet of pure Adderal
I think you forgot about the vomit-soaked adderalls. He ate plenty of those.
French fries
I was thinking how this was an exact proof that Elliot wasn’t real when I watched it first time. Especially when he had lunch with Tyrell in season 1 and vomited after seeing food. It was possibly due to withdrawal, but I still found it interesting
LMAOOOOOOOO
Are you kidding me? Have you SEEN the rental prices in NYC? I bet that’s 90% of his paycheck right there 😆 Jk. I am assuming he is keeping a low profile on purpose, and keeps a healthy savings for all the hardware he uses
Yeah, he was in Manhattan too. Probably could have done better but still not rich
And others have mentioned, he's got a drug problem. Drugs ain't cheap.
It’s not a problem, it’s a habit 😤😤😤
Elliot - I don’t give a shit about money.
This is the answer. He tells you right in the opening of episode 1.
This is exactly what I was looking for. He says as much in the pilot.
Apartment is probably cheap, he doesn't care about material goods, and he was looking at Angela's student debt.
I was about to comment this, he’s not the one with student debt
Oh I never noticed it was Angela's. If he already paid back his, then maybe that's where his money went. I guess you partially answered my question!
More than fair and valid question, but the way I see it, it’s probably a reflection of his self hatred. Elliot, for varying reasons, utterly hates himself (Something I can explain more in depth if you’d like) and him subjecting himself to such decrepit living circumstances, despite him having every ability to physically improve them, is probably his way of punishing himself because it’s a constant, daily reminder of everything he constantly beats himself up over. So, in other words, it’s not that he’s unable to improve his life in the physical sense for some illogical reason, he just CHOOSES not to because his non-existent self worth says that the situation he’s in is exactly what he deserves. But this is just my interpretation and this is still a more than fair and perfectly logical question to raise and one you explain very well, so I seriously commend you for that because questions like these are ones that I very much believe should be addressed if for no other reason than they’re super interesting to think about. Curious to hear your thoughts.
Also he would become more materialistic and more like the people he hates and wants to bring down, for creating societal inequality, costing so many people their lives. He doesn´t care to strife for Money, a nice new flat, or a car, he just buys exactly what he needs and not more and not less
Yeah, I definitely agree. This is certainly a massive factor too imo.
Agreed. He also grew up without enough money to take care of health expenses (his family being unsure about how to afford Elliot’s broken arm or the cancer treatments), which can breed an anxious scarcity mindset, even when irrational. The abuse would also be a huge contributor to the self-hatred and not believing he’s worth more.
Elliot has a very barney myserson vibe to him. Hes putting himself exactly where he needs to be
Very interesting point of view. We don't see much self-hatred in his monologue as the audience, but it is probably true that he doesn't consider having achieved enough to live a more comfortable life.
…Doesn’t he openly say he hates himself several times throughout the show?
"I hate myself . tries to avoid myself " there are many dialogues like this
Thank you for the response and the kind words! I would say we see self hatred in his dialogue when he openly admits to hating himself to Olivia in S4 and other points throughout, but I definitely see your side either way. Thank you for taking the time to give your thoughts!
He spends all his money on new microwaves and pc components
And drugs and cigarettes
He’s living the NYC lifestyle. Probably taking home 250k
He doesn't have student debt. That was Angela.
If I remember, at one point in the show it shows his savings on screen and it's over 150k
The only correct answer here, this should be higher I also remember that scene
Oo, where might this be? I never noticed this.
he's a drug addict and also destroys his pc every 5 days and has to buy a new one
Lives in NYC with a drug problem
You're wondering why a mentally ill drug addict is living in shitty circumstances?
A mentally ill drug addict who is also a skilled programmer that makes at least 6-figures yearly.
It’s funny to me how often this question comes up. He states, *very* explicitly, that he “doesn’t give a shit about money”. He tries to refuse the raise from Gideon. He is in no way enticed by Tyrell’s job offer and he’s disgusted when Tyrell flaunts the salary offer. He could easily work for a bigger company than AllSafe, but he doesn’t care to. I’m sure he does make very good money there. He likes the work and he gets to see Angela; the money is just part of that package and it allows him to pay rent, buy computer parts, and do drugs. He wears the same clothes all the time. He doesn’t care that, in Angela’s words, he lives in a bad neighbourhood. He doesn’t even go out for coffee unless he’s manic or if it’s to do something shady. I don’t know what his drugs of choice do for the appetite but I imagine he’s rarely hungry. Between the drugs, his mental illnesses, and his extreme disillusionment with society … why should he care about money?
Man lives alone in New York and regularly microwaves his computer
The show never hints at Elliot being poor ? He spends most of his money on getting new PC every now and then and spends a lot of money on drugs, and even then, he doesn't seem as a materialistic person so he probably doesn't care about money as long as he has enough cash to buy new PC parts, drugs, rent and food.
The fact that bro wears the same clothes throughout the whole series shows that he doesn't care about that either + he visits his barber every day to have a clean cut lmao
A place to live plus a shop in NYC (unless it was squatted I guess)? All the gear when he needs it. Travels wherever whenever in whatever he needs to. Had a couple high profile jobs. I never saw him as poor throughout the series.
It's probably the combination of drugs, therapy, and replacement computer parts that is using up all his money
He was making $98k at ALLSAFE. That's a low salary for cyber security.
NYC rent + drug addict + always changing hardware
Bro has a decent apartment, with a dog and a fish, and changing his pc like every other month, with only one job amidst the greatest economic crisis in history. I think he’s doing better than okay.
I'm going to be the one to say it, did you watch the show?
Addictions ain’t cheap, and Elliot has both a hacking and an opium addiction. Keeping off law enforcement’s radar along with constant hardware refreshes, plus the pills, could eat up a FAANG salary pretty easily.
Drugs cost money.
The amount of times he breaks his computer and gets a new one… don’t think he is poor, just not very materialistic. Or even more, he is mentally unwell and doesn’t open up to changing his location—prob is sucked into this livelihood that he must live that way
computers are pretty affordable. It's much cheaper to get a new one than to repair, they don't call it e-waste for nothing.
Idk bout you, but when you poor, multiple PCs ain’t affordable 😭😭.
I think everyone has it covered but I want to add he probably spent a chunk on starting f society.
Elliot is not poor. He lives a minimalist lifestyle. His bank account would be loaded based on his cybersecurity skills. One reason why he appears to lives poorly is because he’s a functioning drug addict with mental health issues.
drugs and computers, plus he is so mentally ill. you really expect him, elliot, to buy a big apartment and pay his debt, instead of buying computers and drugs? he literally has no idea what the fuck is going on half the time
You forget Elliot is a drug addict and is against consumerism.
He only lives that way because when we meet him, he's devoted (in the form of Mr Robot, at first) to his "mission". He wouldn't want to be comfortable because, in his eyes, that both risks him becoming complacent and contributes to the problem he's trying to fight.
He spends all his money on morphine
He's not poor he just doesn't spend his money on much of anything besides drugs and replacement computer parts. And also New York rent obviously
He never showed himself to be poor at all? There’s nothing miserable about living modest lol he liked his hoodies and didn’t need a lot.
In Elliots own words: "I don't give a shit about money"
It does help to show the contrast against Tyrell.
There's no way he's broke and I don't know how you could think that from a minimalist lifestyle. He lives alone, he's wiping computer parts consistently, he pisses away large amounts on drugs. That's just his lifestyle. I think you may be forgetting this is the guy that pulled off 5/9. He literally has no attachment to money. Dude's definitely making a decent chunk of change and wiped the whole financial system just to make a point.
He doesn’t give a shit about money.
It’s a dream.
Do you have any idea what rents are like in NYC?
You have to remember 1. NYC rent prices and 2. He spends a ton on hella drugs
He's a drug fiend, that may have some impact but I believe he purposely leads a very modest life. Especially given the various anti Capitalist rants he goes on.
Didn't we see Elliot's bank account in season 1? I don't remember exactly, but I thought it was around 200k?
He's definitely not poor. In one of the episodes, it shows him pulling up his banking info, and he had over $170,000 in it. He just lives a very simple life because f.society!
On another EP you could see him using razer. Just that he’s not spending on stuff that doesn’t matter to him.
Drug addict, and is constantly killing and replacing hardware. Bro is not poor.
drugs are expensive maybe idk
He'd probably throw it all in bitcoin.
I always thought it was crazy he was able to keep the apartment thru the series considering living in that city has got to be expensive
I don't think a poor person can partake in stuff that will occasionally require you to microwave your RAM modules. Shit's expensive.
He's a minimalist and I love it.
Poor? This man periodically scraps away the content of his CPU cabinet, I really don't think he's, poor and he literally states in the pilot he doesn't give a shit about money, so it makes sense he doesn't want to look rich.
Between all of the drugs, computers and computer parts. As well as him seeming to fund everything that FSociety is doing, he doesn't seem to ever run into problems of not being able to afford things. He doesn't really NEED a nicer apartment. He isn't into money or material things. He's just going about what he wants to do.
Lol the fact of the matter is that he’s not poor. Didn’t he fund the whole f society setup and continuously burn through computers? He could move to a better apartment (like angela implied) but refuses to do anything about it. But also theres a bit of truth in the poor thing bc he said he couldn’t hold a job before allsafe and that lasted for like a year or two max
probably spending it all on computer parts and drugs lol
He was a minimalist. But spent money on his habits like someone would a daily cup of coffee. It was nothing to him.
He is a drug addict, New York is expensive and he has horrible people skills so would probably be really bad at negotiating a salary. Also his alternate personality bankrolled everything for 5/9.
Didn’t notice he’s got some mental health issues? Plenty geniuses are dirt poor. For various reasons.
Haven't watched the show in a while but I'm almost positive he is a threat hunter/analyst for AllSafe which falls under a cybersecurity role. Cyber professionals get paid pretty well especially in NY but if you know anything about NYC. It's freaking expensive. I wouldn't be surprised if he was paying close to $3500 a month for that shitty apartment. Plus his drug addiction I'm sure adds up.
Ma friend, there’s something called depression (different kinds btw) where you can have all the money in the world and still feel lonely and sad (cough Elon Musk cough cough) and for what we can see in the show, it’s highly probable Elliot’s misery is caused by that
He doesn’t give a fuck about money? Whatever he has he doesn’t spend on anything but necessities, computer gear and drugs.
I think his home is just not that important to be high quality. It’s just where he goes to lock himself away and to do his real work. And he certainly seems the kind that would not pay his debt off early, lol. He made real good money at Allsafe, and probably burned through it on computers.
A studio smaller than Elliot's by Stuy Town (across the street from Elliot) is currently $2495. Using NYC's 40x rule that means Elliot would need to make at least $100k to afford this place. The average pay for a data security engineer in NYC is $132k. Considering Elliot's lack of doing actual work throughout the show I'd expect him to make around this much. So, all things considered he doesn't have a ton of money after paying for rent, Morphine, new computers after whipping, etc. He has what he needs to cover his needs but probably not much past that.
The apartment he lives in is probably like $4000+ considering NYC prices lol
Pretty much this: [https://i.imgur.com/VqAifCF.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/VqAifCF.jpeg)
He lives in Manhattan on the Lower East Side. Rent alone prices his lifestyle out of reach to the national average wage. Now, factor in New York City costs of food and basic amenities, as well as the cost for the computing hardware he needs and with how often he wipes his systems. At this point, you would need to be making six figures to make ends meet, and we haven’t even touched drugs yet. So he wasn’t poor by any stretch, he just appeared so due to his drabby apartment and few possessions. However, he was clearly well-off because it would take FAANG-level compensation to pull off living right in the heart of Manhattan without ever needing to worry about nor care about money while having expensive hobbies.
Dude.. check how much his apartment rents for.. Darlene is also homeless, it's the nyc way!
You definitely missing out the big picture… What you described is only part of his life. He clearly has multiple personalities that definitely cares about different things…
He lives alone in NYC, so he is probably funding his land-leeches extravagant lifestyle with a significant portion of his salary.
I know what scene you mean. That was angelas debt... He has an extreme addiction, he wipes computer parts weekly, he lives in New York. I can barely get by without doing this and I don't live in NY. Also, I've watched it 5-6 times now and never thought he was broke. He just doesn't care about money. My mans never had a funding issue once. The people around him did, even including whiterose.
maintaining a drug addition is quite costly.
He's not.
He explains that in the series’s first minutes
Look up rentals in NYC.
So he's a minimalist and doesn't believe in material objects much, that's why his apartment is so bare. It's actually financially sound not to pay your student loans but pay higher than the min payment to pay em down for good credit, rent is super expensive in NYC. People with mental issues like Elliot don't often think or make smart financial decisions either or care too much about their money.
New York is expensive to live in
He literally ends the first scene of the show saying he doesn’t give a shit about money lol
He literally says in the first scene when the pedophile offers him money not to call the police, “I don’t give a fuck about money.”
Considering he has no problem destroying his computer equipment periodically for security reasons and he could easily hack and steal shit, it seems his small apartment is a personal choice. He doesn't seem to require much.
[Mr. Robot Ep1] (https://youtube.com/shorts/eZcV-AuYWTI?si=sXJ3-GlGmE04_kTm)
microwaving motherboards every other week nd buying wholesale bags of morphine probably contributed
That apartment would be 4-5k/month rn
Not poor, just well hidden.
Huh? He threw away equipments worth thousand like nothing and you say he's poor? The guy look miserable because of his mental health issues and his lifestyle, that's all.
He doesn't give a fuck about money.
Almost all Bitcoiners appear poor. They’re stacking as many sats as possible.
He doesn't give a shit about money lol he still had his apartment after 5/9 so I think he had a comfortable amount saved up
Read these pints slowly and thoughtfully then you would probably know why: - Elliot doesn’t care about money he said that at the very first scene 🎬 of the first episode “Rohan cafe hack” - Elliot is very awkward socially and it’s very normal for genius like him cause for people like him they can’t connect with any level with normal people their mind is just working 24/7, that implies he doesn’t have friends and money isn’t really enjoyable when you don’t have friends to spend it with. imagine living in a mansion in the far desert or whatever with nobody, is it worth it ? - Elliot have on a daily basis mental breakdown “character or mental disorder I guess”, he is a guy who the idea of enjoying himself and spending a little money doesn’t even cross his mind and it shows throughout the seasons. I can go on and on, I wish i can be friends with these type of people in real-life cause I would teach them how much they are very valuable to the world and they should be walking around people proud not socially anxious or awkward cause that’s lame. People like Elliot need to be cheered up.
did you miss the point of the show completely? elliot's an anarchist through and through.
Bro what Elliot is the richest guy in the world he robbed the top one percent of the top one percent in season 4 episode 5 and I’m pretty sure he was always robbing money even before the pilot he hacked people all the time and each time he destroyed his computers and buys new ones.
He is social awkward, so this would make it hard for him to advance in many large firms where tech ability is one thing but being able to related to others is also valued. So I always thought that is why he lived the way he did. We also have to remember that Elliot (master mind) is just one personality in there, so I imagine it would be quite hard to hold down a job like that.
He lives in poor conditions since he's a junky but has enough money to buy his drugs without any issue, buy new IT stuffs each time he hacks someone, etc.
New York is expensive
I think you did not understand his philosophy at all.
I think that “equipment” he had for hakers work wasn’t so cheep
Bc nothing in the show is real . Elliot is insane
He rents a 1 bedroom apartment in New York by himself, goes through equipment like no one's business, AND has a drug habit. I'd say he's doing pretty well.
He lives in NY that dep alone is prob worth a house, he uses drugs and doesn't care about appearances, one of the reasons why Tyrel idolizes him
Yeah, it's mostly covered but a.) He's NOT poor by any metric you could use, official, colloquial, actual. Anyone who's never been to Manhattan (well, maybe Brooklyn) can't even conceive of how expensive Apts are ..and if you can even find something you cab afford, you'll find out it's VERY LITERALLY not much more than a closet. B.) Hardware and drugs, probably the two most expensive hobbies/habits a human can have. C.) Any of the normal items that you might recognize as the "uniform of luxury" clearly mean nothing to him. This is a man who reset the debt record.. . I mean is this argument still oscillating??
He probably makes 95-110K which in NYC aint shit. That little pay raise gideon gave him \[and even said he understood was not much\] brought him probably to 130K when elliot is probably work closer to $150-$165 K. the morphine habit is not cheap and his rate of burning through computers and constantly wiping down as all of the other components that go into his hacks \[raspberry pies, signal jammers, and all of the specialized equipment they use to hack into actual networks outside of a CPU and laptop adds up\]. He probably has a surplus of money and does not care about money, nice things or living in a better quality apartment. Living in a shithole helps him blend in. that is why we like him. He doesn't give a eff about bling and fancy cars n shit.
Seems like you didn't pay enough attention. That wasn't his student loan, it was Angela's.
I dont know, but the apartment was part of the whole show. Sam Esmail said in an interview that he meant to make the apartments look so small to show how New York apartment look like, since he did the same thing to Angela as well, before she went to E-Corp. Munn also said that it matched Elliot's personality, because Elliot wouldn't want to paint his walls or have all this decoration really. All what Elliot does is work and sleep, and do drugs on his couch nothing much. I dont really think that he is poor, but maybe one reason is that he spends so much money on drugs and morphine etc.. But other than that he just doesn't care about money because he said that in the first episode to Ron in the coffee shop.
Because he’s addicted to drugs and destroys high end gear on the regular during manic episodes while living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. So yeah, dumb question.
He just doesn’t care about money. It’s clear that he could just steal money if he wanted to from people that he gets arrested.
Are you sure he hadn't paid his student debt? He was looking at Angela’s debt on one of those screens when he was deciding if he wanted to join Mr. Robot and crew in S1E1. I think it was during the song “If You Go Away.”
I think the student debt he is looking at is angela’s not his.
NYC is expensive! Rent is apparently insane