stakeholders

this is becoming a popular term in IT.... let's see what Google says...

stake¹

stāk/

noun

noun: stake; plural noun: stakes; noun: the stake

1. 1.

a strong wooden or metal post with a point at one end, driven into the ground to support a tree, form part of a fence, act as a boundary mark, etc.

1. 2.

historical

a wooden post to which a person was tied before being burned alive as a punishment.