Are present day CEO's so much better at the work they do now? Or is there some other neat little trick they can pull out of their hat in order to get MORE goodies from the stockholders?
No.
Or is there some other neat little trick they can pull out of their hat in order to get MORE goodies from the stockholders?
Yes
And why does it seem that most corporate-execs support leftist/Dem policies?
Which was when Congress, in a fit of class warfare envy, capped CEO salaries at a significantly lower level than the national average at the time. I'm SURE you thought that was a great idea.
The Law of Unintended Consequences is always a hidden amendment to any legislation of this sort.
CEOs started getting paid in stock options because they could NOT be paid actual salary above a certain level. Wise CEOs negotiated clauses that ensured that they could lock in any increases, even if they stock started falling afterward.
It would have been a lot simpler to just not have a CEO salary cap, and keep things on a basic level: "Yo, profits were up 27% last year, so's your salary, have a nice day."
But the Democrats didn't cotton to that.