The serial killers are the lower classes of psychopaths, usually with other mental issues.
They don't all become CEOs but they generally rise to the highest level permissible by their intelligence. An 80-IQ psychopath isn't going to rise to the top of a bank, but he will end up in a position of power over other people.
Of course, they blow themselves up every few years or so, but they usually move away unharmed.
I don't know if there's been a lot of rigorous academic research on the topic or not, but there have been a handful of articles in the pop business press, talking about the connection between being "CEO material" and displaying the traits of a psychopath. For example:
Psychopaths are genetically built to be extreme r-strategists (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-strategist ). What seem like stupid social behaviors are actually practice so that, when they are in a high-stakes social situation, they can win it. Most people find the psychopaths around them to be petty and stupid and think, "How could that guy ever succeed?" Well, the psychopath has decided that you're not of primary importance to the game he is trying to play, so he's using you for practice.
By the time they're adults, psychopaths have a wealth of social experience and knowledge, often gained from high-pressure social situations they created at a rate exceeding what most people would ever encounter. When they want something, they're very good at playing to win.
The prehistoric context was that developing an outsized social ability enabled someone to have an above-normal number of sexual encounters. The lack of emotional attachment and compassion, likewise, keeps them from pair-bonding and slows down their proliferation.
In the work context, organizations are also r- or K-selective (quantity vs. quality) in how they replicate process. Get-big-or-die companies are r-strategists, while "lifestyle businesses" tend to be K-strategic. As the business world becomes increasingly r-strategic, so does the character of people running it.
The serial killers are the lower classes of psychopaths, usually with other mental issues.
They don't all become CEOs but they generally rise to the highest level permissible by their intelligence. An 80-IQ psychopath isn't going to rise to the top of a bank, but he will end up in a position of power over other people.
Of course, they blow themselves up every few years or so, but they usually move away unharmed.