At my company, the most senior ICs (Principal Engineer, Chief Architect) report into the CTO, so the "manager" in this scenario they don't make more than their direct "manager," but likely more than every other manager in the org.
I think this is a pretty common structure for companies that actually have an IC track that goes being senior engineer.
I think this is a pretty common structure for companies that actually have an IC track that goes being senior engineer.