The Weiders treat their pro competitors like independent contractors who are required to work for free. The competitors contract for services on the condition that they do everything the IFBB requires of them. If any of them "act up," then the usual procedure is to either ban them from contests or make sure they never place highly again (as Aaron Baker found out). It is a closed shop. However, there is plenty of publicity & (as long as you're in their good graces) compliments. You can't eat publicity & compliments, though, or feed your kids with it, or pay for health or life insurance with it. & that is where I fault the system that the Weiders set up. Except for the top one or two pros, they expect the wealth to "trickle down" from other sources. Maybe it will & maybe it won't. Meanwhile, the Weiders are aware that there are plenty more BBs where the others came from, & if the current ones don't like it, they can hit the road.
I once dropped my subscription to MUSCLE & FITNESS because of a statement some flunky editor made in a caption of a pic of Joe W. It said something to this effect: "Pros come & go, but Joe Weider is the true king of bodybuilding because he's always there at the heart of it." Yeah. Right.