What I mean to say is that compensation is typically negotiated as a _number of shares_, not as a dollar value. The fact that outside investors wanted to pay a surprisingly high amount for those shares is on them.
If your company says "we're going to pay you $400,000 and a commemorative water bottle", it's hardly fleecing the company if someone else wants to pay $40M for the water bottle.
If your company says "we're going to pay you $400,000 and a commemorative water bottle", it's hardly fleecing the company if someone else wants to pay $40M for the water bottle.