> Would he realistically be able to make as much as they make out of him by himself? While working the same amount?

According to AI boosters he should be able to make magnitude more now

The correct comparison isn’t him working by himself but with a similar sized cohort where distribution of revenue was fairer. Co-ops are a thing as are the productivity benefits of working with others.

Even if you don’t like the concept of co-ops it’s fairly easy to ask yourself if you would you be more or less motivated if you shared more in the success of a company rather than it being sucked up by shareholders?

Break even is staying is business :)

And you do it to provide the product/service, provide for your workers, etc

You think a company can exist with just executive leadership?

Would love to see just one example of a billion+ valuation company with nothing but C-suite and that against the ratio of companies with 1000+ employees who are worth a billion+. The only two sub-dozen workers that come to mind for me are Theranos and Bernie Madoff and I'm not sure they are examples of success.