Putting your accusations of arrogance aside, the point is ultimately this: unlike the work done by a worker on an assembly line, software work scales out "infinitely." You may pay that team of developers a huge amount but the work they have done is reproduced at "zero" cost hundreds of thousand of times.

It makes sense to invest in quality there.

I have made the point that ad revenue distorts FAANG practices elsewhere. I agree on this. You'll note that myself and my friend had no intention of seeking a FAANG salary elsewhere, it's unrealistic. However. There are limits. And sane practices.

The low compensation band reflects a lack of recognition of a) the importance of software and b) the economics of it. It isn't just that they pay bad, it's that they produce bad software because they don't get it.