Why should we be past it? Because new employees are generally ok with this perception, we do not IMPROVE the perception, and we allow things to continue.

I've seen quite a few CEOs of companies I've worked at where most of the employees could make a lot better decisions. You probably have as well.

These "people in the drivers seat" are often not very good drivers. Some are. Most are terrible, and while the company (the collective of all the people working there) may be making "huge value", it is by no means certain that it could not be making 100x more - and sharing it better with the people underneath.

CEOs are just humans, like you, who happen to be leading something. They do not have magic brainpower skills.