This separation of ownership and control is discussed at length in James Burnham's The Managerial Revolution (1941). The central idea, if I'm not butchering it

This separation of ownership and control is discussed at length in James Burnham's The Managerial Revolution (1941). The central idea, if I'm not butchering it too badly, is that, as our technological society becomes increasingly complex, the owners of things no longer have control over them, and, therefore, the "owners" of those things no longer actually own them. The true owners, according to Burnham, are an emerging "managerial class" consisting of, e.g., bureaucrats, administrators, and technical managers.