[quantified]

Because it can be. The boards that set it are made up of executives, and it's good for all that the bar for average pay gets ratcheted up.

While a good CEO may be worth a multiple of any line worker, the notion that a CEO will leave for some other pursuit only holds water if the other pursuits hold higher multiples and are readily attained. They would all work for one-quarter the comp if that is all they were offered. As it is, they'll happily work for double also.

[zozbot234]

CEO's have a lot of influence on the value of firms they manage, as we're surely all aware of. CEO compensation is generally about aligning interests between the CEO and the firm itself.

[quantified]

All comp is about aligning interests. Nothing special about CEO comp unless it's to overcome pathologies in the CEO's makeup.