Conversely, you could infer that board members are largely decorative, and of course any effect would be a) inversely proportional to the # of board members, b) proportional to the small time commitments that directorships typically involve, and c) mitigated by the fact that board members are/have somewhat supportive peers whereas the CEO does not.

It's an interesting data point but the conclusion seems overbroad. One might equally draw on this conclusion to say that families of regular people probably need proportional levels of economic support following the death of a family member.