Business magnate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a mogul, tycoon, or industrialist is a person who controls a large portion of a particular industry and whose wealth derives primarily from said control. Such people usually amass substantial fortunes or political power in the process, and tend to become widely known within society in connection with their industry, or through other pursuits such as philanthropy.
Examples of well-known business magnates include newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst of the Hearst Corporation, oil magnate John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie of US Steel.
In Russia and some other post-Soviet countries, the term "business oligarch" became popular.
[edit] Etymology
The word tycoon is derived from the Japanese word taikun (大君?), which means "great lord" or "shogun". The word entered the English Language in the 19th Century with the return of Commodore Perry to the United States. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was humorously referred to as "the Tycoon" by his aides John Nicolay and John Hay. The term spread to the business community, where it has been used ever since.
The word mogul originally meant Mongol, or person of Mongolian descent. In this context, it refers to the Mughal Empire (mughal is the Indo-Aryan spelling of mogul) of India that existed between 1526-1857. The early emperors of Mughal claimed themselves descendants of Mongol ruler Genghis Khan and adopted a Mongolian identity. The modern meaning of the word is supposedly derived from the excessive riches of the Mughal emperors, which for example produced the Taj Mahal.
The word magnate itself derives from the Latin word magnates (plural of magnas), meaning "great person" or "great nobleman."
As the term industrialist (from the English word "industry") was more widely used in the context of "old world" industries such as steel, oil, newspapers, shipping and rail transport, it has largely been superseded by the other, more modern terms which encompassing a wider range of business and commercial activity.
[edit] Notable magnates
From the real world:
- Roman Abramovich
- Silvio Berlusconi
- The Big Four: Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins of the First Transcontinental Railroad
- Conrad Black
- Richard Branson
- Warren Buffett
- Andrew Carnegie
- Joop van den Ende
- Ray Kroc
- Henry Morrison Flagler
- Henry Ford
- Bill Gates
- J. Peter Grace
- William Randolph Hearst
- James J. Hill
- Howard Hughes
- Samuel Insull
- Raymond Lakah
- Andrew Mellon
- Lakshmi Mittal
- J.P. Morgan
- Rupert Murdoch
- Alfred Nobel
- John Fredriksen
- Aristotle Onassis
- T. Boone Pickens
- Thomas Rawlinson
- Cecil Rhodes
- Henry H. Rogers
- John D. Rockefeller
- Carlos Slim
- George Soros
- Ivan Stedeford
- Donald Trump
- Sam Walton
- Lew Wasserman
Fictional:
- A Corner in Wheat
- Scrooge McDuck
- Montgomery Burns of The Simpsons
- Caledon Hockley
- Charles Foster Kane
- Bruce Wayne (Batman's true identity)
- Henry Starling of Star Trek: Voyager
- Roberto Rastapopoulos
- Artemis Fowl
- Gail Wynand
[edit] See also
Articles
- Local Baron (in Romania)
- Robber barons
- Business oligarchs, for business magnates of Russia and Ukraine
- Media proprietor
- Tycoon Computer Game
- Captain of industry
Lists
Categories
- Category:People in rail transport
- Category:American railroad executives
- Category:Shipping magnates
- Category:Mass media owners
- Category:Media executives
- Category:Retailing magnates
- Category:Advertising magnates
- Category:Real estate magnatesde:Tycoon
es:Magnate fr:Tycoon ja:日本国大君 nl:Magnaat sr:Тајкун sv:Industrialist
