So tell me , what's the difference between the Board of Directors , the CEO , and the stockholders ? They all seems ot be the same group of people to me ...   No , there's a definite difference . You know , the stockholders are the people who own the company ... they're the financial control system . Then there's the CEO — the chief executive officer . He's the hot shot , the main guy who is the boss . If there is only one person with absolute power in the organization , everyone knows that the power will go to their head . It's too dangerous . That's the reason for a Board of Directors . The board is made up of people who are experts in the industry . They could be related to the organization , but more commonly , they are independent and non-biased . 