The more money they (executives) save, the more (money) for them to distribute to themselves. It's so simple, almost elegant.
Cut, cut, and then cut some more - to the bone...
All they need is a couple of years of fat salaries and balloon bonuses.... And then, they are sent, they children are set, and children of their children are set for life.
I am OK when someone like a founder does this (they built the company), but when bureaucrats and corporate types climb the ladder just to graft the corp, I have a major problem with that.
And our economy suffers as characters like this contribute nothing to growth, capital, improvements. They burden the economy and slow growth. You can literally plug in a monkey into one of the C-roles and the animal would manage not to get fired for 24 months as the system that supports it is relatively well oiled to keep running for VERY long time. Monkey then gets fired, the new one is appointed, two more years of the same stuff, the company will keep going, will be less successful but will keep going.
I guarantee you that if we were to cut their total comp to 400K each you'd still have armies of people lining up to take the role as it brings power and prestige.