I've always been fascinated with the VOC, and I was wondering how it was structured. Did it have CEOs, CFOs, etc. in the traditional sense, or was it something different?
The VOC wasn't governed by the current structure we have for companies nowadays. It did have shareholders and such, but there was no shareholder assembly or anything like that. It was governed through a central committee called the Heren XVII, or if I were to translate it, the Seventeen Gentlemen.
The VOC had multiple sections/chambers in the country, each one in a city from which ships would set sail. These chambers were located in the following cities: Amsterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotterdam, Enkhuizen en Hoorn. Each of these chambers would send representatives to the central committee who would become one of the Gentlemen 17.
Now, the more economic activity you were responsible for, the more representatives you could send. Amsterdam was responsible for a lot of the economic activities of the VOC, so they could send 8 representatives. Middelburg (and Zeeland, the region) was also responsible for a lot of economic activity, so they sent 4, etc. The smaller chambers could send one. If you've been counting, you notice that gets you to 16 representatives.
To prevent Amsterdam from gaining an absolute majority in the committee, the 17th representative was nominated by either Middelburg or the smaller chambers. Even though Amsterdam held a huge clout in the committee, the smaller chambers could band together against Amsterdam and stop them from imposing their will on the VOC.
Each local chamber was in turn governed by multiple directors. Under those directors you had big shareholders and small shareholders, like bakers or maids who had bought shares.
In Indonesia you had a Governor-General that ruled over the Dutch possessions there. He had a lot of autonomy and was basically trader as well as king there. One example of the power of the Governor-General was when Jan Pieterszoon Coen decided to commit genocide against the population of the Banda islands to maintain the Dutch monopoly on the spices there. The autonomy here is not particularly surprising, since it took almost a year to transmit orders from the Netherlands to Indonesia. The Governor-General was counseled by the Council of the Indies, who he had to consult regarding important decisions.