All that matters here is that the CEO and company are negotiating without one side being able to apply some sort of external pressure to force the other to capi

All that matters here is that the CEO and company are negotiating without one side being able to apply some sort of external pressure to force the other to capitulate to their demands. Unless of course you're claiming that CEOs are bribing "the government" to force companies to increase their pay, which would be quite the theory. So again, what is the principle that says CEOs should be paid less than a company is willing to pay them to work in that role? Should all workers decline to maximize their compensation, or just those you deem to have too much money? If the latter, what is the threshold?