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Elon Musk and Warren Buffet are bad examples though as they are Great Men, with a mythos and not easily replaced. Most CEOs are interchangeable faceless suits not visionary founders.
Yeah, Musk may be crazy and I was never a fan even back in the days when he was being worshipped as a god of tech, but he does have a Vision and a Plan. He does want to build electric vehicles. He does want to build self-driving cars. He does want to build private, reusable space vehicles. He does want to colonise Mars.
Most other high-paying, multi-million salary CEO jobs are "Tom Bimble left Wahoo! and has now joined MegaMart, replacing Tim Bamble who has gone to Wahoo!" Interchangeable guys who didn't found the company, weren't there for its rapid growth phase, and whose job is basically "don't run it into the ground, but even if you do, your contract ensures a golden parachute".
That's where the resentment comes in: I screw up in my job, I get fired. CEO Tim screws up, he is the cause of a lot of people losing their jobs, but the terms of his contract means he walks away with a million-dollar pension and may well walk into a new job.
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