I think the source code is owned by Steemit Inc, which may be controlled by @ned and @dan. The community is a different discussion. I don't think a community can be owned, per se. The community is interacting with the code and out of this process we can see some value being created.
As for whales, there will always be people holding large amounts of wealth. An optimistic scenario will be one in which the price of Steem will eventually be so high that even a small amount will worth a lot, hence making whales strategic investors, interesting in divesting in other projects outside the Steemit ecosystem. Much like someone who already has a lot of Bitcoins and it doesn't invest in the Bitcoin foundation, but in a Bitcoin based startup.
But this is a very long discussion.
Owned meaning, responsible for. @dragosroua
Like Steve Jobs owned Apple. The Watsons, Sr & Jr owned IBM, Donald Trump owned the Trump Organization. Andy Grove owned Intel.
Yes, the company behind the source code of Steemit.com is Steemit Inc, and probably it is owned by @ned and @dan. The community cannot be owned, Steve Jobs didn't own the Apple clients.
Owns responsibility for the community , @dragosroua
At whose desk does the buck stop for the community? For the social network?