Seriously, how many times have I heard the argument that CEOs should be making "the big bucks" because they're taking on "the big risks"? Yet except for Brian Thompson, I can't think of any CEOs who've ever actually incurred risks from their "gambles." They always seem to make cuts to everyone and everything else before accepting a loss, or else jump ship with a golden parachute (and probably go on to fuck up a different company afterwards.) Of course, I can't deny the possibility that CEOs who fail don't make the news, and this is just survivorship bias (no pun intended.)