The answer is partly about ownership, control and incentives.
1. CEOs are difficult to replace
A successful CEO accumulates company-specific knowledge, relationships and strategic experience. Replacing that person can create significant uncertainty.
2. Founders have exceptional staying power
Zuckerberg, Huang and Musk illustrate this particularly well. Their connection to the companies goes beyond employment—they are closely associated with the companies’ identities, strategies and ownership structures.
3. CEOs have very different incentives
Senior executives frequently receive substantial equity compensation. Their financial interests can therefore be strongly connected to the company’s long-term performance.
4. Employees have much greater mobility
An engineer, designer or product manager can potentially increase compensation or responsibility substantially by changing companies. The cost of switching jobs is therefore often much lower than the cost of replacing a CEO.
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