What are primary stakeholders?

Primary stakeholders in a corporation or a business entity typically refers to investors, customers, suppliers and employees. As primary stakeholders, these groups are directly affected negatively or positively by any actions taken by the business entity. Actions done by the business can affect two primary stakeholders in different ways.

A stakeholder is defined as an individual or party that has an interest in the business. Due to the diverse nature of stakeholders, their various interests are generally not aligned with each other. In a business setting, for example, profit maximization is likely to affect investors positively but may negatively affect customers and employees.