It's been going around in circles and I found definitive proof for you from the horse's mouth
No more denying anymore -
listen at around 20 mins
First he goes along and says - yes we are invested in ( implied STEEM) similar to poloneix with no new token to be issued but we are lead investor Then he says - STEEM investment is still confidential , we haven't publicly announced it !!
So it basically slipped out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkzfp1bVFo