I actually don’t have that big an objection for CEO’s getting paid a ton of money - to an extent and with some caveats that are not applicable to this conversation. BUT, they are ultimately responsible for the culture from the top down. The CIO and CSO reported directly to this guy.
My biggest problem is that C level people get paid a ton of money while simultaneously not being truly held accountable for outcomes. They can crash and burn a company and walk away with millions or tens of millions when they leave or are forced to leave. There is no “downside” for anyone at that level. And then they go on to work elsewhere.
Case in point at a company where I worked at one time:
We got a new CIO who came in from the outside. This person’s performance at one of their largest gigs was literally a text book example of what not to do. As in I had a friend getting their late in life CS degree and the tenure of the CIO two jobs ago was in one of his text books as a massive failure. Yet we hired this person.
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