Actually you get paid and promoted for making your vp and csuite earn brownie points.
...which is the "applied to lucrative problems" part. VPs and C-suites get brownie points by making money.
Not always. It could be for starting new lines of business or just plan political wrangling. May even be something that loses the company money.
Thats where the experience comes in
IMO, you don't get paid for experience either. You get paid the minimum amount your employer thinks they can get away with without you leaving, capped at some fraction of the value you add,(less overheads, risks, etc).
It's common for performance based RSU grants to stack up to this sort of total comp over a few years.