[kemiller2002]

A lot of times they do. What you have to remember is that board members serve multiple functions. They are partially there to help inroads into other companies. They are their to provide insight into how the organization is to do business and what direction it should take. A lot of times this means that the people on the board need an inside perspective of what's going on in the industry.

Other functions they serve is to protect the organization from unwanted influence. The board ultimately votes on things like, when and who to sell the company to. By weighting the board with people you know will vote a certain way, you protect against things like hostile takeovers. (This along with other rules that many companies have, like only being able to replace 2 board members per term).

In large companies, if you say own 10% of the shares, you really have a massive amount of voting power with a fraction of the shares, because all the with say 5 shares of a stock, aren't going to bother to send in their ballot when voting on board members etc. By weighting the board with insiders etc., you are helping to ensure that a rival or some other organization isn't buying shares through subsidiaries and then making a play before anyone notices.

[fjsolwmv]

Hostile takeovers approximately never have board approval. They are decided by the owners, that's what "hostile" means.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hostiletakeover.asp

[uiri]

Barbarians at the Gate is a - surprisingly good - movie about the hostile takeover & leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. The events depicted became the poster child for the corporate greed of the 80s.