CEOs are technically employed, but they do not REALLY work do they.
Attend meetings, read the internet, attend meetings, play golf, fly a jet or two, stay in hotels, travel to other meetings, oh tell the PA to do a,b,c,d.
CEOs arent super human, their brain capacity is not 20x average. Im sure any seasoned programmer could do what a CEO does, remember more details, understand tech better.
Oh but the real skills come in social engineering and getting that billion dollar deal, by tricking the client.
Programmers are TOO HONEST! "yeah this server is shit, its capacity is poor", CEO says, "it will solve all solutions , no admin needed"