Yeah - I always kind of laugh when I see posts to the effect of "this is undiscovered! There are only ___ shareholders!"
The system works only because it can rely on the following distribution tree:
Company >>> transfer agent >>> brokers >>> individual accounts
for whatever is at issue - dividends, distribution of proxy materials, settlements in a buyout, class action notifications, etc.
If I could afford to buy all of them, I would not need to buy any of them and I sure wouldn't be spending time on the message boards!