[ghaff]

People for whom being an important executive is at least almost as important as having as much money as they can reasonably consume.

Certainly there’s a vast range of FIRE styles and even what constitutes retirement but at some level it’s a combination of keeping score, feeling valued relative to peers (see also sports), and the industry recognition.

[bmitc]

In other words: ego. Executives exist to play a game of ego.

[ghaff]

Unlike all the software engineers at Google who would be happy to have their various titles replaced with some egalitarian "developer" title.

Most people have egos. Some more than others. And public recognition via titles matters a lot for future opportunities. (Though maybe you don't care much about that so long as you make enough money.)