I appreciate the point you are trying to make, but you do use some very poor examples.
The reference for the number of Medium members is rather dated. This is because the source, of the information you used does not give where the figure comes from or when, but continues to update their post to make it appear recent. A better source is https://www.axios.com/2021/03/24/medium-subscribers-buyout-ev-williams who report sources indicating 725,000 paying members in March 2021. This still equates to a fairly small amount to be shared around, something I never had any delusions about. I have always suspected Medium is not a major financial success.
Additionally you blame Gary Vaynerchuk for capturing lots of views and taking the income even though he does not need it. Having a look at his profile he has not written on Medium since 2018 and none of his stories are even paywalled, so he would not be earning from any of them.