[jldugger]

NPR's Planet Money looked at this topic a few years ago: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/12/30/374011462/epis...

Their finding was that the board of directors is a difficult thing to change from the outside -- in typical corporate bylaws, the board typically approves who's on or not on the ballot. It seems likely, given the number of people on multiple boards, that there's a mutual back-scratching system in place.

And even if it's just one board a retired accountant serves on, the salary averages around $250k. It sounds like a cushy gig, and anyone who rocks the boat risks the CEO voting their shares (and the company's) to fire that director.