Stakeholder Definition
A stakeholder is a person who holds money or other property while its owner is being determined. The situation often arises when two persons bet on the outcome of a future event and have a third person act as the stakeholder, holding the money they have both wagered until the event occurs.
Courts sometimes act as stakeholders, holding property while litigation between the possible owners resolves the issue of which one is entitled to the property, and trustees often act as stakeholders, holding property until beneficiaries come of age, for example. An "escrow agent" is one kind of trustee who is a stakeholder, usually in a situation where part of the purchase price of property is being held until some condition is satisfied. It is a very old concept in the law.