[aristofun]

(As usual) there is no and could not possibly be a single or even limited number of answers on such a hi level and complex questions.

To be a cto of amazon - my guess it takes firstly a world class skill in playing political games and manuevering stakeholders expectations.

To be a cto of some startup - it may take just a luck to be in the right place in the right time.

I doubt there are many cases where it correlates with your knowledge per se.

it’s an IC mentality, while CTO in most cases is a management position.