Companies that insure high ranking officers or owners and are both the owner and beneficiary can indeed charge the premiums as an expense. Some of these premiums are so huge that if they can't deduct them, I don't see how they can justify them.
I guess they can justify them. Possibly due to the fact that if they collect on the death of an officer, the proceeds are tax free. If they insure enough officers, the tax-free nature of the proceeds makes it a wash, taxwise.
Believe me, except for group term life insurance limited to $50,000 of coverage per insured, or some type of life insurance purchased through a pension plan, life insurance premiums are not deductible.