Now I really don't think this is completely fair or that you have to pay this much to attract top talent [0]... but I think I can see a different reason why to

Now I really don't think this is completely fair or that you have to pay this much to attract top talent [0]... but I think I can see a different reason why top executives are paid like this. It is the same as with pro sports, e.g. soccer where the top players in the big leagues earn more money than they know what to do with, decently good ones seems to earn a living and everyone else is sponsoring by paying for their kids to play on a team etc etc. Actually a bit of the same thing as lotteries: Big payouts to a few more (lottery) or less (CEO) randomly selected individuals to make sure everyone else keeps putting in money or effort. [0]: IIRC Norways pension fund have done fairly well even if their experts are paid fairly normal salaries.