In the US, capital gains (which is primarily how very rich people have an income), is taxed at roughly half the rate of a wage or salary, and it was Reagan who made that happen.
Before that massive tax break for the rich, CEOs of publicly traded companies on average received 42% of their compensation in the form of salary, and only 19% in stock options.
Fast-forward to today… to take advantage of the tax breaks, that mix is now 13% in salary, and 60% in stock options.
That is all we need to know, to understand that the changes benefited them. Them being people who were already plenty rich.