There's ability, demand, and impact. IMHO, the stronger argument against CEO compensation is that the delta (in company performance) between a great CEO and a

There's ability, demand, and impact. IMHO, the stronger argument against CEO compensation is that the delta (in company performance) between a great CEO and a midling CEO isn't equal to their compensation. If a firefighter sucks at their job... someone dies. But (unfortunately, if we're being honest) that's worth less than +/-1% of large company performance. (Personally, I think public safety, medical non-doctors, and teachers should all be paid a lot better)