It's possible the 2x offer wasn't really that ludicrous. Any time in my career when I have felt I was paid more than could be considered reasonable I have been

It's possible the 2x offer wasn't really that ludicrous. Any time in my career when I have felt I was paid more than could be considered reasonable I have been proven very, very wrong. I think our culture of hidden salaries combined with savvy hiring and compensation practices make it very difficult for a person to understand how much value they provide and how much it costs to replace them. Also consider that there are companies that are always hiring developers. They aren't filling roles, they are just looking to hire anyone capable that they can. Of course their demand is actually finite but reaching it in the current market is inconceivable. These companies can afford to pay whatever value you add, salary is dictated only by their demand for good engineers because it dwarfs the supply. Good engineers aren't actually replaceable for these companies, if they could find a replacement they would want to retain both.