But even in reais executive pay is growing by double digits a year, says Edilson Camara of Egon Zehnder, a headhunting firm.

ECONOMIST: Big country, big pay cheques

Egon Zehnder International (EZI), a recruitment consultancy, recently calculated that the proportion of top CEOs in their 40s had doubled in 15 years, to 40%.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

Laurence Monnery of Egon Zehnder International, an executive-search firm, reckons that companies should stop penalising people who at some point in their careers have gone part-time.

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter

That means the tech industry has "a fighting chance to get the best and the brightest from Wall Street, " says Martha Josephson, a partner at Egon Zehnder in Palo Alto.

WSJ: Tech Poaches Wall Street Talent

Of the search firms, Egon Zehnder was the first.

ECONOMIST: Management appraisal

"She has to be in the top 1% of desirable board members out there, " said Martha Josephson, a friend of Ms. Sandberg's and a partner at the recruiting firm Egon Zehnder International.

WSJ: Facebook Names Sheryl Sandberg to Board