Is he including year 3 and 4 RSUs when calculating that? If so not a great comparison as comparable companies don't back-weight RSUs and also give bigger refreshers after year 1.
Amazon has dramatically increased pay in the last year though, to be fair.
Not sure if it’s new but Amazon gives cash bonus to flatten comp, so it’s cash heavy for years 1 and 2 then stock heavy for years 3 and 4
Amazon deliberately tries to pay higher initial offers, but they hold back comp increases aggressively. Your friend might have a couple good years, but they won't last.