Your math might not work. You multiplied his earnings by 1000 times. The article said 5.9 million, you rounded off to 6 billion.
Check again.
I multiplied his hourly rate--his earnings in dollars per hour--by the number of hours it would take to match the total.
1000 times 6000 is definitely six million, even in the cold hard light of day and before my first cup of coffee. 6 million is close enough to 5.9 million--at least close enough for government work.
I don't know where the billion you mention came from, whether it's your typo in this comment, or I missed a letter somewhere in my post.