Something I am interested in knowing

Hey guys, I was just watching the making of oblivion documentary. It got me thinking, with companies like id software, bethesda, ect what do their parent companies like Zenimax actually do? Do they have any involvement in the making of games? Or do they just issue money for the budget of a game and do nothing else?

They sit in a creepy castle staring at security cameras of their employees, all while petting a sinister looking cat and laughing maniacally...