> Shareholders are not customers FFS. Stop repeating that like it’s some grand insight.

Customer is a recipient of goods provided by seller or vendor in exchange for money or other valuables. User of free service is not a customer by that definition. Unless you would openly treat privacy as currency.

Investor who gave a company money is - in my view - a paying customer. They give a business some cash, expecting more in return. It is not paying for service but it is still paying and expecting something in return. A publicly traded company is a product itself and investor is buying that product.