Depends. As a specific counter-example: a lot of (USA) non-profits have self-perpetuating boards. The CEO and the Board go out and recruit new members of the Bo

Depends. As a specific counter-example: a lot of (USA) non-profits have self-perpetuating boards. The CEO and the Board go out and recruit new members of the Board. While the Board has a legal fiduciary duty to the company (non-profits are companies!), it can get pretty murky pretty fast. For publicly held companies (and some credit unions and similar structured organizations), sure, the Board is "elected" by the shareholders. But this isn't an election like you're used to, and the Board recommends who should be elected to the Board and those people generally are elected. Privately held companies can have a Board that's chosen by the owners, some even have Boards appointed by the CEO, or the CEO can have a controlling interest in the company. It takes a pretty big breach for you to remove a CEO who appointed you to the Board.