A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or services are widely consumed. Such individuals have been known by different terms throughout history, such as industrialists, robber barons,

captains of industry Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

czars Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

, moguls,

oligarchs Oligarch may refer to: Authority * Oligarch, a member of an oligarchy, a power structure where control resides in a small number of people * Oligarch (Kingdom of Hungary), late 13th–14th centuries * Business oligarch, wealthy and influential bus ...

plutocrats A plutocracy () or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike most political systems, plutocracy is not rooted in any established ...

, or taipans.

Etymology

The term ''

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

'' derives from the Latin word ''magnates'' (plural of ''magnas''), meaning "great man" or "great nobleman". The term ''mogul'' is an English corruption of ''mughal'', Persian or Arabic for "Mongol". It alludes to emperors of the Mughal Empire in Medieval India, who possessed great power and storied riches capable of producing wonders of opulence such as the Taj Mahal. The term ''tycoon'' derives from the Japanese word , which means "great lord", used as a title for the '' shōgun''. The word entered the English language in 1857 with the return of Commodore Perry to the United States. US President Abraham Lincoln was humorously referred to as ''the Tycoon'' by his aides John Nicolay and

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was Un ...

. The term spread to the business community, where it has been used ever since.

Usage

Modern business magnates are entrepreneurs that amass on their own or wield substantial family fortunes in the process of building or running their own businesses. Some are widely known in connection with these entrepreneurial activities, others through highly-visible secondary pursuits such as

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, political fundraising and campaign financing, and sports team ownership or sponsorship. The terms ''mogul'', ''tycoon'', and ''baron'' were often applied to late-19th- and early-20th-century North American business magnates in

extractive industries Extractivism is the process of extracting natural resources from the Earth to sell on the world market. It exists in an economy that depends primarily on the extraction or removal of natural resources that are considered valuable for exportation w ...

such as mining,

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and petroleum, transportation fields such as shipping and railroads, manufacturing such as automaking and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

making, in banking, as well as newspaper publishing. Their dominance was known as the Second Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age, or the Robber Baron Era. Examples of business magnates in the western world include historical figures such as oilman John D. Rockefeller, automobile pioneer Henry Ford, shipping and railroad veterans Aristotle Onassis, Cornelius Vanderbilt,

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...

, Jay Gould, and

James J. Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railroad director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwes ...

, steel innovator Andrew Carnegie, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, retail merchant Sam Walton, and banker J. P. Morgan. Contemporary industrial tycoons include e-commerce entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, investor Warren Buffett, computer programmer Bill Gates, technology innovator

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

, media proprietor Sumner Redstone, steel investor Lakshmi Mittal, telecommunications investor Carlos Slim, Virgin Group founder Sir

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

, entrepreneur Elon Musk, Formula 1 manager

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...

, media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch, and poultry technologist Frank Perdue.

Business magnates

File:Samuel Slater industrialist.jpg, Samuel Slater File:Cornelius Vanderbilt Daguerrotype2.jpg, Cornelius Vanderbilt File:JNTata.jpg, Jamsetji Tata File:Henry John Heinz by the Pach Brothers Studio, c. 1914, gelatin silver print, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 93 388 14.jpg,

Henry J. Heinz Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur of Palatine descent who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business exp ...

File:Portrait of 49-year-old John D. Rockefeller.jpg, John D. Rockefeller File:JohnPierpontMorgan.png, J. P. Morgan File:Asa G. C..jpg, Asa Griggs Candler File:Andrew-carnegie-portrait-pd.png, Andrew Carnegie File:Henry ford 1919.jpg, Henry Ford File:Howard Hughes.jpg, Howard Hughes File:Sam-Walton.jpg, Sam Walton File:Warren Buffett at the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit (cropped).jpg, Warren Buffett File:Rupert Murdoch - Flickr - Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer.jpg, Rupert Murdoch File:Richard Branson March 2015 (cropped).jpg,

File:Li Ka Shing.jpg,

Li Ka-shing Sir Ka-shing Li (; born 13 June 1928) is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li is the 31st richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$33.4 billion. He is the senior ad ...

File:Bill Gates 2018.jpg, Bill Gates File:Paul G. Allen (cropped).jpg, Paul Allen File:Steve Jobs Headshot 2010-CROP (cropped 2).jpg,

File:Lakshmi Mittal LM.jpg, Lakshmi Mittal File:Larry Ellison picture.png, Larry Ellison File:Bernard Arnault (2) - 2017 (cropped).jpg, Bernard Arnault File:Gautam Adani.jpg, Gautam Adani File:Jeff Bezos at Amazon Spheres Grand Opening in Seattle - 2018 (39074799225) (cropped).jpg, Jeff Bezos File:Elon Musk 2015.jpg, alt=Elon Musk, Elon Musk File:Larry Page in the European Parliament, 17.06.2009 (cropped).jpg, Larry Page File:Sergey Brin cropped.jpg, Sergey Brin File:Mark Zuckerberg F8 2019 Keynote (32830578717) (cropped).jpg,

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control

Magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Management occupations Social classes

Etymology

Usage

Business magnates

See also

References

External links