The VOC (United East India Company) was a joint-stock company created by investors who sought to unify the spice trade and leverage their combined assets; it was "sponsored" by the government only in the sense that it had a monopoly to trade in the Indies (defined as the Cape of Good Hope and points east, later) in 1602, which presumably made its creation worthwhile. The directors were the Heeren XVII, a small group taken from notable VOC investors (or bewindhebbers) from major trading cities, and its primary motive was private profit for its shareholders. A certain sum went to government, but overseas the VOC was a law unto itself, reorganizing societies, engaging in brutal campaigns to protect and extend its monopoly, and enforcing its rule. Outside of the central islands and major trade ports radiating from Java the VOC's influence tended to drop off, and a lot of areas did not come under formal control until the Dutch government took over in the 19th century. The investment capital gains, unsurprisingly, remained in private hands--it didn't all go down with the VOC at the end of the 18th century, not by a longshot, and arguably that remains part of the reason why Dutch financial power is still very strong.
One post actually included some of my reading suggestions (and others) in English; if you can read Dutch your options however will grow considerably. Have a look here, or perhaps some of my Dutch compatriots will chime in with fresh literature recommendations and correct any mischaracterizations I've made above.
To follow up, what became of the principals and the wealth?
I'm not really sure about their math. Sure, they adjust for inflation, but are we really supposed to believe that 1 Dutch guilder at that time is about $100,000 today? That doesn't strike me as realistic, because an entire common household would be worth just a couple coins. Maybe they didn't really account for purchasing power or something? I'd like to hear some proper historical analysis on that.
Also, this is purely looking at inflation of their net worth. Would they really be worth a lot more than that now, considering that they owned like half of India, given the monumental growth of India since?
Related issue: does the book Shogun by James Clavell get it even somewhat right? He included an East India Company, as well as a host of Dutch characters when writing about Japan.
This book gives an interesting perspective and some explanation of the VOC and its operations. It is filled with footnotes and sources for further research.