A founder's salary is a set amount of money that the founder gets from the company. Early employee salaries are salaried amounts that any employees starting with or before this date will get paid. A founder's salary often includes stock options, which early employees' salaries do not. A founder's salary might be higher because he has been with his company longer and helped grow from an idea to something more successful. Therefore he deserves more money due to all of his work put into it. This would mean that other employees coming on board later may still receive an equivalent raise in comparison but should consider their seniority to what other employees around them are doing.