From what I understand, he is just one team member of a small production group that works for a huge company. I'm pretty sure he's researching here so his team can pull ahead. Sounds very corporate structured. He's not making $25 million, rather his corporate conglomerate overlord is reaping the benefits of his teams hard work rolling out a national campaign and taking the credit. His team then, gives high fives, and moves on to the next project, unappreciated.
It's a very competitive world, and they are faceless and soulless. They just want stuff done, and under budget. Kinda like a "Figure it out, kid... this is why we pay you."