It has to be someone who looks somehow impressive, it can't just be a random homeless person doing it for a meal, that would look like the enterprise is doing something criminal.

Pay plays a part in that, it signals that the person is extraordinarily competent and all around great and important.

In large corporations CEO:s aren't very important, it's just one person who mainly collects and structures information from people closer to the work and makes public appearances on behalf of the corporation and does paper shuffling required by the state and so on. It's not rocket surgery. Using this person to protect the reputation and image of shareholders and the board as well is a 'no-brainer' decision to make if your interests are well served by it.