I would say that a stakeholder is someone with an 'interest' in the success of a certain project, company, etc. Successful project = happy stakeholders. Unsuccessful project = unhappy stakeholders. It's a very general word, which could mean (a mixture of) business partners, investors, colleagues, etc. The point is, they hold a 'stake' in the project and benefit from it's success – meaning that they all want to make sure it is successful. :)