I don’t know why Victor thinks he’s stuck with Ian as CEO. It doesn’t matter what kind of contract he has, the board of directors is always capable of firing him. No better justification than attacking the founder’s son. (Although that was a pretty smooth move on Ian’s part.)
Not being able to fire him is just as stupid as Hope and John having to go to Alamania to get their divorce. That’s absolutely preposturous. To me, both of these things demonstrates a severe lack of imagination on the part of the writers.