It's sometimes easier to see relationships with a visual tool. TheyRule.net was one of the first, but several good (and free) ones have surfaced. Here are a few such websites:
Muckety takes a few seconds for Java to load, but it's worth it. The link above is to the Stanford Muckety map, but you can enter other organizations or individuals, or click on a name within the map to see relationships past and present.
In Muckety, if you end up clicking on a lot of the boxes and it expands way too much, you can "center" or clean it up by alt-clicking on a box. Mousing over a line will provide details of the relationship (director, trustee, family ties, etc).
NNDB Mapper tracks the activities of noteworthy individuals, and lists birth information, political affiliation, family, high school and college education, board memberships as well as career history information. At the bottom of each profile is a link to a relationship map.