That's the wrong framing. I suspect the reality is that many 20th century European law-books were written to protect workers and state from exploitative/crimina

That's the wrong framing. I suspect the reality is that many 20th century European law-books were written to protect workers and state from exploitative/criminal business owners. Rightly so. It's an accident that the most important bits of corporate and labor law don't distinguish between a 300-person shoe factory and a 20-person series-A startup. They weren't around when these concepts were codified and written in stone. The systemic and personal consequences are unfortunate but impossible to prevent.