A CEO, CTO, CFO, CXO etc. are all "employees", technically an employee is someone who works for the company (unpaid work also counts) the company.
E.g. You can have 100% equity, be sole shareholder, pay money to a manager/employee to conduct work/business. You can even derive a dividend from the said business. however you cannot "engage in business" which means that you cannot write code whose IP gets assigned to the company. You also cannot have day-to-day management responsibilities. If I remember correctly planning a business and/or attending meetings of board of directors is allowed.
At end of the day shareholding pattern trumps everything else.
E.g. You can have 100% equity, be sole shareholder, pay money to a manager/employee to conduct work/business. You can even derive a dividend from the said business. however you cannot "engage in business" which means that you cannot write code whose IP gets assigned to the company. You also cannot have day-to-day management responsibilities. If I remember correctly planning a business and/or attending meetings of board of directors is allowed.
At end of the day shareholding pattern trumps everything else.