Running a major American corporation has become so lucrative that critics of long-serving executives like longtime Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris are entitled to be blunt. In a world of mediocre to bad corporate leaders, Mr. Liveris stands out.
The shorthand for summing up an executive’s tenure is comparing what an investor might have earned in an index fund instead of in the company. Mr. Liveris, now executive chairman of the recently created and soon-to-be-split DowDuPont, has run the company since November 2004. Dow’s...