Bear in mind that not all companies are quite as big as this lot. I don't know the actual stats for any country but I think that small companies are quite important in terms of additive scale. In general your small company has a nasty habit of hiring people, abiding by the rules and paying taxes.

So, I happen to be a Managing Director of a small company (UK) - we have 20 odd employees and a t/o of ~£1.5M. We are a private company, not public (more later.) We as a board have simple duties, largely decided by ourselves. We also have responsibilities that are dictated by the country: we have to file accounts on time to a proscribed format, pay corporation tax regularly, pay VAT returns on a regular basis etc. We also have to have a certain structure (two directors minimum) and hold regular meetings such as the AGM. There's a few other requirements but in general you do it how you like.

We also have shareholders who are not directors. These are employees who have served long enough (>four or so years is the general rule.) These are Class B shareholders (Me and the other directors are Class A). The difference is Class A stakeholders can vote on stuff - ie run the company and Class B can benefit from company profits but don't get to run my company.

Just to be clear: me and my partners (2) run the company but quite a few people get to benefit via shareholdings. If the shit hits the fan, me and my partners get to be kicked in the bollocks, shareholders only get tickled.

Oooh, SARS-CoV-2: We'll be fine for a while longer.