Edit: I wasn’t actually disagreeing with the comment above. You should downvote me too.

Board of directors

Correct. The board defines the company, not the CEO.

CEOs are usually puppets. Whatever role they play, you can bet they were hired specifically to play it, and were incentivized to stick to the script.

Their job (legally, their fiduciary obligation) is to maximize shareholder value, to take the credit or blame, and fuck off.

The board (typically key stakeholders) are so pleased when the public focuses on their CEOs, even if it’s for their shitty opinions, behavior, or obnoxious salaries.

Because the worst thing that could happen to them would be for the public eye to actually follow the money, and it’s easy to see why.

If the rabble truly fathomed just how many of those “golden parachutes” stakeholders stockpile with every disgraced CEO, however ceremoniously disavowed…

Accountability would shift to more permanent targets yes but, more importantly, it would quickly become common knowledge that, all this time, there were in fact more than enough golden parachutes to go around.