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That’s a great question. It was done by River, I couldn’t find the exact methodology, but they were able to link Satoshi to 22 different addresses, so I’m assuming they are able to analyze transactions to get a sense of whether it’s a business or individual. Perhaps someone technically more knowledgeable can answer how that’s done. I’m more concerned with the macro implications.

I took a quick look at the source: https://river.com/learn/who-owns-the-most-bitcoin/ . River didn't do original research. The numbers seem to have been collected from a few sources. The claim that 16M+ BTC are held by individuals is unconvincing because (a) it is hard to detect it from typical blockchain analysis techniques (e.g., graph analysis), and (b) it contradicts the intuition from mining power distribution--most of the mining power is concentrated among a handful of players. It is certainly possible that 16M+ BTC is held by individuals, but the claim would have been more convincing if they had stated the methodology upfront.