I think a lot of the reasons that engineers rag on business leaders more than engineering ones are that:

1. They haven't tried creating a product and then making money off it. It's amazing how painfully difficult that can be (without good Sales and Marketing).

2. They haven't done a (good) MBA and don't understand how much goes into it, so write it off as similar to an undergraduate business degree.

3. They have a superiority complex from their university days where engineering was the hardest discipline.

Pat Gelsigner's favourite phrase is "We all work for Sales and Marketing". He says it over and over. I think at this time in Intel's history an engineer is the better one to be running the ship, but the idea that you need to be 100% tech savvy to run a successful tech company is, as you proved through your example, patently false. A good CTO can make all the difference in the product, while a good MBA-type CEO can focus on everything else.