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A tale as old as time.

Business does well: This was the result of the executive teams hard work and they must be rewarded.

Business does poorly: Something, something, macroeconomic headwinds, the executive team must be exhausted answering questions about the businesses poor performance, let's get them a bonus.

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Sort of. Shareholders can also sue you if it's obvious you're the one who really screwed up, especially if you are taking massive salaries.

So there is quite a large risk in your "business does poorly" version.

Isn't that only for publicly-traded companies? Vice Media is a private LLC.

Nope you still have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the business to the best of your ability while keeping it viable. This guarantee is made to the shareholders. Difference is that most private companies are also owned by the people who run out of business so they can’t sue themselves.

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