Discussion on answer by dwizum: My boss asked what number would keep me happy?

No, salary is based on how much is offered by the market. It is correlated to value, but not necessary equal to it.

So your argument is that the value of the employee is what they're paid? That's circular reasoning. My point is that "value that the employee brings to the company" is only (mildly) correlated with pay, not equal to it.