That is a patently ridiculous statement that you can in no way defend. I personally know of at least one case where sound judgment and the ability to understand the mortgage business and the secondary markets have resulted in leveraged negotiations that saved at least one company many times over his annual salary.
I had the experience of briefing an aerospace industry COO who had 60,000 people working for him and a salary of $20M/year. Every 15 minutes he made a decision that could make or lose millions for the company. If he made a lot of wise decisons, he was well worth it. One of his decisions resulted in the company earning an EXTRA $1.5B in profit on a bomber that we brought in ahead of schedule and under budget.