Just to provide a counterpoint, my personal experiences with the CEO of my company have been consistently positive. I consider him worthy of my trust, and I am a naturally skeptical person. The company has grown to hundreds of employees, but he's still approachable and direct as ever.
It puts a smile on my face when upper management squats in a conference room I need for a scheduled interview, and I can tell the candidate they just booted the CEO and director of engineering.