A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a wealthy 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 may also be known as ''
barons
Baron is a rank of nobility
Nobility is a social class normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy (class), aristocracy. Nobility has often been an Estates of the ...
'', ''
captains of industry
In the late 19th century, a captain of industry was a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way. This may have been through increased productivity, expansion of markets, providing m ...
'', ''
'', ''
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, businessmen who quickly acqu ...
'', ''
plutocrats
A plutocracy ( el, πλοῦτος, ', 'wealth' and , ', 'power') or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth
Wealth is the abundance (economics), abundance of Value (economics), valuable financial asse ...
'', ''
taipans'', or ''tycoons''.
Etymology

The term ''
magnate
A magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", is a noble or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities. In reference to the Middle Ages, the term is often used to distingui ...
'' derives from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language
A classical language is a language
A language is a structured system of communication
Communication (from Latin ''communicare'', meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is "an appa ...

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
The Mughal, Mogul, or Moghul Empire was an early modern
The early modern period of modern history
Human history, or world history, is the narrative of Human, humanity's past. It is understood through archaeology, anthropology, ge ...
in
Medieval India
Medieval India refers to a long period of the history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running between the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century AD and the start o ...
, who possessed great power and storied riches capable of producing wonders of opulence such as the
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; , ), is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wi ...

.
The term ''tycoon'' derives from the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan
, image_flag = Flag of Japan.svg
, alt_flag = Centered deep red circle on a white rectangle
, image_coat = Imperial Seal of J ...

word , which means "great lord", used as a title for the ''
shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the so ...
''. The word entered the English language in 1857 with the return of
Commodore Perry to the United States. U.S. President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of governme ...

was humorously referred to as ''the Tycoon'' by his aides
John Nicolay
John George Nicolay (February 26, 1832 – September 26, 1901) was a Germany, German-born United States of America, American author and diplomat who served as private secretary to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and later co-authored ''Abraham Linco ...
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 Secretary to the President of the United States, private secretary and assistant ...

.
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 consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of th ...

, 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 America
North America is a continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continen ...

n business magnates in
extractive industries such as
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occu ...

,
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks or flatcar#Skeleton car, s ...

and
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil and oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid
A liquid is a nearly incompressible
In fluid mechanics or more generally continuum mechanics, incompressible flow (isochoric process, isoc ...

, transportation fields such as
shipping
Freight transport is the physical process of transport
Transport (commonly used in the U.K.), or transportation (used in the U.S.), is the Motion, movement of humans, animals and cargo, goods from one location to another. In other words ...

and
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transferring passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are located on tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface ...

s, manufacturing such as
automaking and
steel
Steel is an alloy
An alloy is an admixture of metal
A metal (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appe ...

making, in
banking
A bank is a financial institution
Financial institutions, otherwise known as banking institutions, are corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the State (polity), stat ...

, as well as newspaper publishing. Their dominance was known as the
Second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid and from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The , which ended in the middle of the 19th century, was punctuated by a slowdow ...
, the
Gilded Age
In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age was an era that occurred during the late 19th century, from the 1870s to about 1900. The Gilded Age was an era of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern United St ...
, or the
Robber Baron Era.
Examples of well-known business magnates in the western world include historical figures such as oilman
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839May 23, 1937) was an American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the United States
The United States of Am ...

, automobile pioneer
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically ...

, shipping and railroad veterans
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Lyceum (Cl ...

,
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877) was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inla ...

,
Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinat ...
,
Jay Gould
Jays are several species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of biological classification, classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organis ...

, and
, steel innovator
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie ( , November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry ...

, newspaper publisher
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, . His flamboyant methods of influen ...

, retail merchant
Sam Walton
Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992)
was an American businessman and entrepreneur best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's largest corporation by revenue as we ...
, and banker
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier
An investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this ...
. Contemporary industrial tycoons include e-commerce entrepreneur
Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ; né Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a successful entrepreneur or businessperson who controls, through person ...

, investor
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway () is an American multinational
Multinational may ...
, computer programmer
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characterist ...
, technology innovator
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term ch ...

, media proprietor
Sumner Redstone
Sumner Murray Redstone ( Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of ViacomViacom, an acronym of Video & Audio Communications ...

, steel investor
Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (; born 15 June 1950) is an India
India (Hindi: ), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous country, the ...
, telecommunications investor
Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim Helú (; born January 28, 1940 in Mexico City) is a Mexican business magnate, investor and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American ...

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

, technology entrepreneur
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk (; born June 28, 1971) is an entrepreneur and . He is the founder, CEO and Chief Engineer at ; early-stage investor, CEO and Product Architect of ; founder of ; and co-founder of and . With an estimated net worth of around ...

, Formula 1 manager
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristic ...

, media entrepreneur
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American billionaire businessman, media tycoon, and investor. Through his company News Corp
The current incarnation of News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an Am ...

, and poultry technologist
Frank Perdue
Franklin Parsons "Frank" Perdue (May 9, 1920 – March 31, 2005), born in Salisbury, Maryland, was for many years the president and CEO of Perdue Farms, now one of the largest chicken-producing companies in the United States.
Background
Fr ...
.
Business magnates
File:Cornelius Vanderbilt Daguerrotype2.jpg, Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877) was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inla ...

File:John D. Rockefeller 1885 140x190.jpg, John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839May 23, 1937) was an American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the United States
The United States of Am ...

File:Andrew-carnegie-portrait-pd.png, Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie ( , November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry ...

File:JohnPierpontMorgan.png, J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier
An investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this ...
File:Henry ford 1919.jpg, Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically ...

File:Howard Hughes.jpg, Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American , investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, film director, and , known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and financially successful individuals in th ...

File:Sam-Walton.jpg, Sam Walton
Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992)
was an American businessman and entrepreneur best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's largest corporation by revenue as we ...
File:Warren Buffett with Fisher College of Business Student - 4395161160 (cropped).jpg, Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway () is an American multinational
Multinational may ...
File:Bill Gates 2018.jpg, Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characterist ...
File:Paul G. Allen (cropped).jpg, Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 19 ...

File:Steve Jobs Headshot 2010-CROP (cropped 2).jpg, Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term ch ...

File:Larry Ellison picture.png, Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate, investor who is a co-founder, the executive chairman and chief technology officer (CTO) of Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational ...
File:Jeff Bezos at Amazon Spheres Grand Opening in Seattle - 2018 (39074799225) (cropped).jpg, Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ; né Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a successful entrepreneur or businessperson who controls, through person ...

File:Elon Musk 2015.jpg, alt=Elon Musk, Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk (; born June 28, 1971) is an entrepreneur and . He is the founder, CEO and Chief Engineer at ; early-stage investor, CEO and Product Architect of ; founder of ; and co-founder of and . With an estimated net worth of around ...

File:Mark Zuckerberg F8 2019 Keynote (32830578717) (cropped).jpg, Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American media magnate, internet entrepreneur, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He is known for co-founding Meta Platforms, Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly named Facebook, Inc.) and serves as its chairma ...
File:Larry Page in the European Parliament, 17.06.2009 (cropped).jpg, Larry Page
Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American computer scientist
A computer scientist is a person who has acquired the knowledge of computer science
Computer science deals with the theoretical foundations of information, a ...

File:Sergey Brin cropped.jpg, Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin (russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Брин, tr. ''Sergéj Mixájlovič Brin''; born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. Together with Larry Page
Lawrence ...
File:Richard Branson March 2015 (cropped).jpg, Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British business magnate, entrepreneur, investor, and author. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expre ...

File:Rupert Murdoch 2011 Shankbone 3.JPG, Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American billionaire businessman, media tycoon, and investor. Through his company News Corp
The current incarnation of News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an Am ...

See also
*
Bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie (; ) is a polysemous
Polysemy ( or ; from grc-gre, πολύ-, , "many" and , , "sign") is the capacity for a word or phrase to have multiple meanings, usually related by contiguity of meaning within a semantic fieldIn linguisti ...

*
Business oligarch
A business oligarch is generally a business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a wealthy entrepre ...
*
Businessperson
A business person (business man, business woman) is a person involved in the business sector
In economics, the business sector or corporate sector - sometimes popularly called simply "business" - is "the part of the economy made up by company, c ...
*
Captain of industry
In the late 19th century, a captain of industry was a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way. This may have been through increased productivity, expansion of markets, providing m ...
*
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values than simply ...

*
Financier
An investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Types ...

*
Investor
An investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Types ...
*
Magnate
A magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", is a noble or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities. In reference to the Middle Ages, the term is often used to distingui ...
*
Media proprietor
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a successful entrepreneur or businessperson who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individual ...
*
Plutocracy
A plutocracy ( el, πλοῦτος, ', 'wealth' and , ', 'power') or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth
Wealth is the abundance (economics), abundance of Value (economics), valuable financial asse ...
*
Real estate entrepreneur
Real estate investing involves the purchase, management and sale or rental of real estate for profit. Improvement of realty property as part of a real estate investment strategy is generally considered to be a sub-specialty of real estate investin ...
*
Robber baron (industrialist)
Robber baron is a derogatory term of social criticism
Social criticism is a form of Academic or journalistic criticism
Criticism is the practice of judging the merits and faults of something.
*The judger is called a ''critic
A critic is ...
;Lists
*
The World's Billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth
Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial asset
In financial accountancy, financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a b ...
*
Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,Usage is m ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Business Magnate
Magnate
A magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", is a noble or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities. In reference to the Middle Ages, the term is often used to distingui ...
Magnate
A magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", is a noble or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities. In reference to the Middle Ages, the term is often used to distingui ...
Management occupations
Occupations relating to management.
Business occupations
Management, Occupations
Positions of authority
{{CatAutoTOC ...
Social classes