Cyberpunk is a science-fiction sub-genre dealing with the integration of society and technology in dystopian settings. Often referred to as “low-life and high tech,” Cyberpunk stories deal with outsiders (punks) who fight against the oppressors in society (usually mega corporations that control everything) via technological means (cyber). If the punks aren’t actively fighting against a megacorp, they’re still dealing with living in a world completely dependent on high technology.
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I'll admit I'm stealing this question from an r/cyberpunk post but I thought it was an interesting question and wanted to ask it here.
To quote that original post:
On one hand, the CEO being essentially an omnipotent, untouchable king elevates the class differences to their logical extreme, but on the other hand, a corporation that is so large it feeds itself, a company so weighted and full of momentum no human can ever hope to come against it feels almost lovecraftian.
What do you think?
This is me snowballing... The CEO is just another slave to the megacorporation, with no power to even fire themself. Their work day is meticulously planned out, micromanaged, and any misstep severely punished. Whether it's investors, emergent AI, or whatever horror in control of the corporation behind the scenes, the CEO is only managing to play their role as a figurehead through illegal stimulants while covertly sending out pleas for help. They probably have a (subdermal) implant or other device on them which would kill them if they tried to leave on their own or broke the rules set upon them. Meanwhile the actual owners of the company are far away, faceless, and too big to bring down easily. They would not miss the CEO, but gumming up the works of the corporation would cut into their profit margins and they would probably excise it like one would amputate a limb which is rotting away. They might resort to total destruction of the company, its assets, and workforce if they can't otherwise get rid of it, so any killswitches deployed on the workforce might be a problem.
As a plot twist, the megacorp, described as an entity, becomes aware of The Owners' intention of destruction. It covertly puts in place measures to survive when the excise comes.
A war of megacorps ensues, the freed megacorps against the enslaved ones by The Owners. With the puny humans being doubly screwed over, of course.