I think with FAANG it’s mostly just down to them having insane valuation and being able to give out those stock options. The base salaries don’t seem particularly high, until maybe the highest levels.
If you look at FAANG earnings, their annual gross revenue (before expenses), is at least $1M per employee. Last time I looked Apple does $1.5M including all their Apple store employees.
It's not just insane valuation. If the employees are bringing in $1M per head, you can afford to spend more on those who are making stuff.
It's still the case that most of the total comp is from RSUs, and often the people making $500k+ are making that because of appreciation in the stock price. Their initial offer wasn't that high.
They’re not stock options, they’re RSUs or restricted stock units. And you can sell them whenever you want, inside the quarterly trading windows. It’s basically cash, it’s just tied to the company’s performance.
It's not just insane valuation. If the employees are bringing in $1M per head, you can afford to spend more on those who are making stuff.