[southeastern]

Is it though? Do these companies regularly pay out thousands because they're fools? Most business decisions are made with some return in mind; they must feel in the grand scheme it's worth it-- that they'll make more back. I think it's more foolish to dismiss the very real possibility of bias if she holds this meeting, solely on the basis of 'she makes so much money why would she even care about 700k?'

[ModernMech]

If I want to attract top employees in the financial industry, who are used to making a lot of money, then I need to offer them something they can't buy. Exclusive talks with people they find interesting is one way to do that. As a company I would put that in my recruitment material. Any company who doesn't do this is now at a disadvantage. They're going to want to get their own exclusive talks now. You want top employees, you have to offer top perks, and you're competing with other very wealthy firms who have the ability to pay essentially unlimited money for said perks. That's going to drive the price of speeches up.