I think your premise is false. Yes, you can give examples of people that weren't very ethical and built successful products (like Gates and Jobs), but there are

I think your premise is false. Yes, you can give examples of people that weren't very ethical and built successful products (like Gates and Jobs), but there are numerous examples of the opposite - many wonderful products done by people and teams who did nothing wrong (yet!). I even think believing this idea (you need to be ruthless to succeed) is dangerous. And if you behave like a boss from the 90s at some point you will be exposed. I've seen places where these people rule and they only have high turnover with the exception of these few shops where investors are funneling tons of money so employees just stopped caring.