Who pays the most?

Netflix pays top of market for Silicon Valley _and_ readjusts your comp (100% cash based) every year to be top of market again.

Do they readjust down when the market goes down?

Prop trading firms pay more, I don't know if they pay the _most_ however.

For front office work, they definitely do pay the most.

Though not necessarily per hour.

(Ok, probably still per hour. But hours can be quite long.)

A super genius could most likely bargain for a pay/bonus cut and 40 hour weeks for 7 figures easily after a few years of demonstrated performance.

Yes. Though a super genius also gets special treatment at eg Google and other places.

So it's hard to say anything general about their compensation.

Well it’s a sliding scale sort of thing right. A regular ole’ genius could probably negotiate the same for high six figures.

I've worked for Google, Goldman Sachs, a few others, and now for a prop market maker.

I'd say I'm at best a regular ole' genius, and I can confirm that you can negotiate quite a lot.

Especially when taking a new job, and especially if you arrange for having multiple offers. Negotiating while already on the job faces quite a lot more headwind.