robber baron

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robber baron

1. One of the American industrial or financial magnates of the late 1800s who became wealthy by unethical means, such as questionable stock-market operations and exploitation of labor.

2. A feudal lord who robbed travelers passing through his domain.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

robber baron

(Commerce) a person who has made a very large amount of money and has been prepared to act illegally or in an immoral way in order to do so.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rob′ber bar`on

1. a U.S. capitalist of the late 19th century who became wealthy by ruthless and unethical means.

2. a feudal noble who robbed travelers passing through his lands.

[1875–80]

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References in classic literature ?

And yet, men have so behaved since the world began, feasting, fighting, and carousing, whether in the dark cave-mouth or by the fire of the squatting-place, in the palaces of imperial Rome and the rock strongholds of robber barons, or in the sky-aspiring hotels of modern times and in the boozing-kens of sailor-town.

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The mullahs have reached the point where they see themselves above the law, nobody can condemn them within Iran without suffering consequences; a land where the robber barons rule!

Iran's Most Viral Thief is a very Naughty Cleric (Video)

Historically, a common feature of all strong states has been a strong military coupled with civil institutions, a de jure capability to defend their territory and policies that favoured the citizens rather than dominant classes like feudal lords and industrial robber barons.

Budget session and pandemonium

"Our way of working was created, brick by brick, by gurus, industrialists, robber barons, unions, and universities--generations of managers and workers who came before us.

BRAVE NEW WORK

The Unite, GMB and Unison trade unions are on the side of the angels when robber barons mug workforces.

FIRM DOES THE DIRTY

America's first Gilded Age began in the late 19th century with a raft of innovations -- railroads, steel production, oil extraction -- but culminated in mammoth trusts run by "robber barons" like JP Morgan, John D.

Time to break up Facebook, Google and Amazon

Pakistan is on verge of bankruptcy yet powerful robber barons manage to evade paying taxes and fines for irregularities that they have committed with help of branded lawyers.

Justice delayed

As the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda astutely observed, 'The courts exist to protect the robber barons; jails are only for those who steal a loaf of bread.'

Meant to protect ruling class, not masses

mantra since colonists landed and one that robber barons of the early 20th century were more than happy to continue--raping the land to line their pockets, fill their bank accounts, and build their mansions.

Modern-day Robber Barons

He outlines the roles of Burke, John Henry Newman, and others, as well as the French Revolution; conservatives and liberals in early America; the role of robber barons and social Darwinism in the othefto of conservatism; how conservatives and progressives changed; types and tensions in modern conservatism; presidential campaigns like those of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan; and the Tea Party.

Who Stole Conservatism?: Capitalism and the Disappearance of Traditional Conservatism

What the public is seeing is the disruption of the belief in Silicon Valley exceptionalism -- that, unlike Gilded Age robber barons, 21st t -century digital plutocrats are transparent in their dealings while building and using their great wealth.