This makes me think of China, where the government forces board seats in many companies.

That seems like another strawman; e.g. I said it could be warrants for this reason.

There's lots of examples of financial ownership without the holder of the return running the business. Whether it's a state or an ex-spouse.

In Germany unions have board seats by law. Doesn't seem to be stopping the executives at Siemens and Krupp from their corporate aspirations.