Bear in mind how profoundly feudal academia's history and mindset are. A self-serving professor can bring a great deal of prestige to the university. And prestige is by far the #1 priority for a modern university.
And this is also true for many of the people who work in institutions. Look at how much more desirable positions in coastal United States universities are than those in the interior, particular private ones like the IVs and some of the larger and more famous ones in big public systems. The thing is, if you don't care about status and you believe that almost anyone can do good work, as long as they're motivated, you can go anywhere you want, and in many cases you'll find that you're welcomed with open arms. But this comes at a cost of status.
No and certainly not on a risk-adjusted basis. (i.e. if you're reasonably competent, you're far more likely to do pretty well in private business than academia). On the other hand, while I've never had personal exposure to the downsides, a tenured position at an elite university in the US still seems pretty attractive with various caveats in both directions depending upon the location.
You may mean “funding for research projects”. I would agree. Over the very long haul a successful research program can also result in a relatively high “academic” income (ca. $200,000 in biomedical research), but that no comparison with mid and top levels of programmers at FAANG et al.
