Dammit jtr, there you go again using logic and reason. When will you ever learn.
Many of the people who make up the average board of directors are CEO of their own companies and don't want to start a trend of "punishing" CEOs, as they are CEOs themselves.
"Punishing" the CEO might be perceived as a lack of trust in their leadership, which could lead to drop in stock price, and shareholder lawsuits, etc, etc. Plus the board doesn't want to admit they made (and keep making apparently) a mistake.
The elite of the elite (1% of the 1%) don't live in reality anyways. The shit coming out of their mouths is poetry, their farts smell like roses, and they are the special "chosen" to run the world.
When a bunch of lawyers are in a room together do they tell CEO-Jokes?
/sorry rambling again.