- get mad at the CEO because he's overpaid
- try your hand at creating your own business
- it doesn't work
- continue blaming CEO who is the one who secures the deals and customers that keep the whole show afloat
- let's kill the rich
- other people get rich instead
- rinse and repeat

i know an SMB CEO.

he spends much of his day doing work he hates, such as being in meetings and dealing with financial issues.

at heart, he's a geek. it's an IT business that he runs. he's the happiest in a server room, but dicking around with computers doesn't make money.

maintaining customer relationships, keeping the finances in order, and following up the work output of employees is what does. he hates doing that, but if he didn't do it, the business would go bankrupt.

you'd think knowing a CEO would solve all my financial problems.

it's not that easy.

it's not that easy...

suppose my CEO friend decided to sign deals with me that favour me.

now he has to answer to the board. he's beneath them. and the board has to answer to the general assembly (the shareholders). he's 2 levels down from the top.

but the individual shareholder isn't at the top either, unless he has an absolute majority share.

it's very rare that a shareholder has an absolute majority share. when a shareholder has that, he's the dictator of the company, because he can instruct the board and thus the CEO to do stuff.

Elon Musk is in a bit of a weird situation there. in a properly functioning corporation, one guy is NOT supposed to call all the shots. decisions are made more democratically.

the corporate board is typically tasked with hiring/firing the CEO and they vote on that. the general assembly votes on who sits on the board. it's all designed to NOT leave power in the hands of one guy.