@John Doe:
I agree that an average code writer does not worth that much. But a bunch of these IT people have changed the world in the past few decades by asking better questions than any marketer, sales guy or lawyer (who also don't worth much in an economy collapse, by the way). I mean the Palo Alto Research Center in 1970, not the "big names" who stole and sold their ideas, or try to follow their way today.
"Elite programmers" are not comparable with any number of code writers because they think differently, and able to build a framework that allows solving otherwise hopeless problems. Furthermore, if they are good enough, this framework will be usable without them, and allows average code writers to maintain and keep up to date a very complex and huge system with minimal errors. That is priceless, and they also don't work for the money but because they love to do it.
Personal part: I get much, much less than even that "startup guy", but it's OK; and I'll leave Hungary (small collapsing country in Europe) only if forced to. But I would NEVER go to Google for any money because I do consider myself a "noble" person, which means there are things that I am not able to sell, especially to them. Like a vision of a future worth working for.
