In 2014 there was 3000 stakeholders.
Most were sockpuppets. UP was the one who came up with the communist sounding idea "equal shares for all" but that was a terrible idea for distribution. It encouraged sock puppets. Ethereum didn't have to deal with sockpuppet problem at all. More money you invested, more coins you got. No need to create fake accounts to get more stakes. Pretty simple, fair and effective