The salary expectations from Auburn (where Tim Cook is from) is a lot less than from say UC Berkeley or Stanford.
After all, being MIT or Stanford means that you passed specific type of filter but that filter might not be the silver bullet and even bring monoculture.
Despite the fact that the elite schools have elite opportunities, more often than not, the most impactful things don't come from elite alumni.
It is very different from Brin and Page, that basically catapulted from campus to become billionaires. Their life experience before becoming founders was entirely shaped by Stanford, their identity tied to it. It makes sense that their company reflects this.
Also MSFT isn't part of FAANG.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Tech#FAANG
I think Microsoft is up there and competitive in the same landscape, and calling out their lack of inclusion in the original acronym is just pedantic. Everything discussed in this thread applies just as much to MSFT as it does to any of the other FAANG companies.
F: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Facebook/salaries/Software-En...
A: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Amazon/salaries/Software-Engi...
A: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Apple/salaries/Software-Engin...
N: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Netflix/salaries/Software-Eng...
G: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Google/salaries/Software-Engi...
M: https://www.levels.fyi/company/Microsoft/salaries/Software-E...
Twitter, square, uber, netflix, linked-in, pinterest, dropbox, airbnb, etc are all middle-big sized and are fairly variable comp wise.
The other orgs pay in things like bonuses or RSUs.
Total comp may be as good or higher, but those aren't locked in a specific rate the way a direct deposit to your bank account is; e.g. you could get less bonus, or the stock price could drop, etc.