> Companies aren't looking to waste money. If they could find a magical CEO at 1/10th of the price, they would. There's a reason those jobs are worth that much.
I'm not so sure about this. The CEO is selected by the board members, which don't have an interest in debunking the myth that CEOs need to make obscene amounts of money. These guys can often get CEO jobs themselves later in life, and if they propagate ideas that deflate CEO salaries, they're harming their future self.
In other words, the high-end executives (incl. board members) form an aristocracy of sorts and they protect their interests as a class.
How is that different than all of the software engineers and other professions talking about being paid what you're worth?
I don't see any complaints about all those FAANG developers with extreme salaries that have skewed entire housing markets. Should they be limited from negotiating a rate that the company is willing to pay?
I'm not so sure about this. The CEO is selected by the board members, which don't have an interest in debunking the myth that CEOs need to make obscene amounts of money. These guys can often get CEO jobs themselves later in life, and if they propagate ideas that deflate CEO salaries, they're harming their future self.
In other words, the high-end executives (incl. board members) form an aristocracy of sorts and they protect their interests as a class.