I mean, there probably should be a 50x difference. I've seen a single dev get done the work of 50 average devs many times. A single excellent engineer can produce immense business value.
It always baffles me how many places only pay sr engineers 3-5x more.
I didn't say "write 50x more code" I said "gets done the work of 50 average people". Think of all the meetings, admin, HR, accounting, meetings, stand-ups, one-on-ones, architects, code reviews, process improvements meetings, directors, and meetings needed to staff 50 engineers. Think of how much time is spent just keeping them vaguely aligned. For 50 engineers you need at least 4/5ths total effort just into keeping everyone and everything in sync and moving forward. There's tremendous waste.
It's not hard for one or two decently talented engineers to accomplish more in a year than 50 people.
If you are a 50x programmer working on a platform that others created (a business), you aren't really a 50x programmer. The environment for their productivity was created by someone else, not them.
It always baffles me how many places only pay sr engineers 3-5x more.