There is a proven correlation between height and average income in the US, but that does not prove causation; there may be other factors at work. Furthermore, it's worth pointing out that this is a statistic, there are certainly short men making lots of money and tall men making very little.
While no one has proven why relationship is so, it is believed that tall men are seen as better leaders and therefore more likely to get a promotion. The majority of the CEOs and so forth in the US are over 6 foot.
Now there's no real logical reason for this, it's an unconscious bias -- but it is believed that this may been rooted in the early days of humanity when food was scarce, and being tall meant you had access to a lot of food, indicating you were capable, or the offspring of who was.
Of course, CLL won't change how good a leader you are, but it may make you more confident -- which ends up giving you a better shot.
In regards to the salary of existing CLL patients, the guys I talked to at Paley's were either (a) in high paying scientific professions, or (b) had well-off family that could foot the bill.