What is your current job and motivation for preferring it, if you don't mind sharing?
Generally, I don't do this, I like natural lighting when appropriate, but I will do exactly that if the sun is creating glare on the screen I am working with, or if I am facing straight into the sun. Similarly, I would do it if I am dealing with sensitive data.
Screen glare?
http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/...
Oh wait, I suppose you can... for some value of friends...
Even if they're top level devs making 200k per year, you can still hire 17.5 of them (10,000 * 356 / 200000).