There are many other companies that offer free email without relying on a "massive" ad business. Without knowing what you mean by a lot, but Dropbox, twosigma,

There are many other companies that offer free email without relying on a "massive" ad business. Without knowing what you mean by a lot, but Dropbox, twosigma, most "unicorns" have an order of magnitude or more less headcount and offer similar pay.