There is a big difference between "CEO responsible for increasing profits" and "CEO while profits increased", and it's not at all clear that this is one or the

There is a big difference between "CEO responsible for increasing profits" and "CEO while profits increased", and it's not at all clear that this is one or the other. (Although in fact, if all competitors in an industry all had their profits grow, I think that's actually likely excellent proof that the CEOs weren't responsible at all.)