Except that envy is part of the human condition, and arguably, a key component of human progress. Left unchecked, though, envy can lead to social instability. See, e.g., Kahneman and Tversky's work about how people are willing to incur harm to themselves to punish what they perceive as unfairness (sorry, no time to get the cite). So arranging our societal structures to keep envy in check might be necessary, even if it means giving some high earners a haircut on their income.
Of course, by this metric the successful countries are all in Africa. It will be an interesting future.
When the English and the Germans came to North America and replaced the population there, was that a success for North America? If so, is it the kind of success you'd like to have someone else give to you?
Someone tricked you. The US has one of the richest middle classes in the world. A CEO being paid obscenely has absolutely no impact on the middle class, it just makes a nice boogeyman for politicians.