You're assuming the early employee equity made up for what they lost in salary. Or that it even became worth something afterwards. Or that equity even makes u

You're assuming the early employee equity made up for what they lost in salary. Or that it even became worth something afterwards. Or that equity even makes up for the base salary cut you receive when working for a startup, ignoring this collusion. Also, if their base salary were higher elsewhere they could likely demanded even more equity. So even if you're assuming the equity isn't worthless, they potentially could have gotten more if salaries were higher.