Indeed, the only way for everyone to hire the best would be if every single programmer in the world had exactly the same ability.
In a world with John Cormack, Anders Hejlsberg et al that seems... unlikely.
And really, how many people "need" "the best"?
I have the same reaction when companies say we only hire the best. Why should the best people in the world be working on this problem? There are profound problems we need to solve as a species like tackling global warming and building a sustainable economy. Should the best and brightest we working on CRUD apps?