Yes. They lied, or you’re mis-representing what they said. I suspect the average pay was closer to $365K for an A380 Captain in 2011. A 744 Captain would have been less than that again.
You can do the sums yourself if you like. Hourly pay rate was $272ish per credit hour. The divisor average per bid period was about 170. 6.5 bid periods per annum. 40 hours overtime per bid period for 6 bid periods- that o/t number is possibly a bit generous. $366K.
Now do the same numbers for the 744 Captains using an hourly pay rate of $259- except they did less overtime than the 380 by 5-10hours per bid period.
Now if perhaps Qantas instead said the highest earning A380 pilot earned $500K then perhaps that holds true. He was their man, on their contract and rarely flew. Hardly representative of ‘the average’.
You can keep trotting out the $500K BS if you like but you’re just making that hole you’re in much deeper.