It actually says in the beginning that he was a P5, which I assume to be over 200k total comp, which is more or less the top few percent of software engineers nationwide. That is a great comp package even for management. So if you are indeed that valuable, any company would want to retain you, and you could ask for a lateral move to a new manager, or just bolt when things get hairy. Everybody wants to retain or hire the top talent.

Edit: that is not to justify the alleged treatment, only placing the situation in relative terms. He wasn't being paid 80k at the only shop in town, with no other possibilities available.