What Did Ken Chenault Do to Earn $79.6 Million?

Why are Americans so furious at Wall Street bigwigs and other members of the business élite? The root of the problem, I think, is that people perceive, in my view rightly, that C.E.O.s, senior Wall Street bankers, and other members of the corporate aristocracy live according to different rules.

Take Ken Chenault, the longtime C.E.O. of American Express. In many ways, Chenault, one of the few African-American bosses of a Fortune 500 company, is an admirable figure. The son of a Long Island...