In the 1990s, a tax rule change under President Clinton limited tax deductions for CEO pay over $1 million unless it was performance-based, leading companies to award stock options en masse. Though meant to align executives with shareholders, this shift triggered an explosion in compensation, as options were treated as cost-free despite diluting shareholder value. Silicon Valley fiercely resisted accounting reforms that would expose the real cost of options, delaying transparency. After the dot-com crash, scrutiny increased, and new rules forced companies to count options as expenses, slowing pay growth. However, since 2014, CEO pay has surged again at roughly 10% annually, far outpacing worker wages. Post-Dodd-Frank disclosures now reveal CEO-to-worker pay ratios nearing 190:1, highlighting a growing divide rooted in decisions decades ago.