Nah, Luke is paid considerably well. I think his compensation is probably tied in part to Floatplane. They probably have kept it quiet to not disgruntle the other OG employees (what's left of them now) but the memes how low Luke was paid were just annoying Linus. I think that Luke could earn even more as mid-level manager in a tech MNC through stock options etc., but he likes larpin' as a CTO to give him status and is paid enough to have a smug grin on his face when the topic of his compensation is brought up. And working for LTT is probably fun when you're the cult-leader's favorite lackey and go-to guy.
That said, it is smart by Linus to fairly compensate Luke, because the channel will die if Luke leaves. The core audience watches the WAN show and Luke's disappearance can't be swept under the carpet like all the other disappearances, lately. The core will whittle away and they'll be truly at the mercy of the algorithm then. From what I've seen of Luke, he is a good guy and doesn't like inter-personal conflict; whenever Linus mentions reconciliation with GamersNexus, Luke always nods his head approvingly and looks relieved.