His numbers may be high but $40-50k/yr is pretty low. My impression is that software developer positions at top companies (Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc) pay about 2x that.
Top companies? LOL - I remember being contacted by Google (whatever division they have in the Washington DC area). They wouldn't commit to providing the hardware or software to do the job, or even keep the benefits the same when you move from project to project - so f*ck 'em.