The "shareholders" are the managers of large mutual funds, who are in the same 1%er good-ol'-boys club as the CEOs. They're the ones voting the huge blocs of shares within the mutual funds.

The middle-class folks who actually own the shares indirectly via the funds in their retirement accounts have been completely disenfranchised.

I think on an aggregate level, its easy to prove that it is. But I don't know if there's enough evidence on a case-by-case basis to prove it by standards needed in a court of law (against someone who can afford better laywers). Curious how much people being professional company board members influences how likely they are to vote in favor of CEO bouses.