One explanation for extremely large pay packages is that they are the result of a bidding war. If programmers don't get the oversized pay they feel they deserv

One explanation for extremely large pay packages is that they are the result of a bidding war. If programmers don't get the oversized pay they feel they deserve it's because they haven't manipulated the job market properly or they don't really have the power to manipulate the market. The "top-rank" developers sabotage each other by working for lower pay than they collectively deserve. How could programmers construct a bidding war for their services? One way that borrows from the sports analogy is to work in an industry where there is a winner-take-all payoff structure. While one 10x programmer may be only slightly better than any other 10x programmer, in a winner-take-all business it's worth the trouble to bid higher than one's competitors for such people.