So the read I had was that Steve Martin plays the executive who’s accustomed to bullying or buying his way out of problems, and in the film it never really helps him.

If you only read the headlines you’re going to get mad (I have the same view of billionaires as you), but I got the impression that the critic is suggesting the theme of the film is that the mindless pursuit of wealth won’t help a person as much as connecting with their fellows will. That’s somewhat incompatible with simply being a mouthpiece for billionaire propaganda.

Anyway, it’s a pretty decent movie (here we are talking about almost forty years later). I particularly like how John Candy destroys Steve Martin’s character after Martin has been so nasty with him just by calmly accepting who he is. He doesn’t need to get into a fight and it really shows how cruel the other is.