If I sell you a book on how to be succesful, and am not succesful, I have to fake success to get you to buy. So maybe I'll rent a sports car, overspend on my rent, go to holidays I can't afford, etc. because enough people might be fooled to allow me to actually afford these things.

High salaries makes people want to work there which creates competition which in turn drives prestige.

Not asking questions is a little facetious, however it is plausible that things like questionable business practices are easier to overlook when working / applying for a job because $$$. In other words, it's very hard to explain a concept to someone if his livelihood depends on him not understanding it.

Tons of "financial influencers" have constant videos of them with lambos and other expensive toys. It's basically the same thing - image is everything in speculative parts of the financial market.