A captain of industry is a term used to describe a business leader who owns or manages a large, successful business or company. In the 19th century, the term referred to a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way, such as through increased productivity, expansion of markets, or providing more jobs. Some of the 19th-century industrialists who were called "captains of industry" include Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Leland Stanford, and John D. Rockefeller.
The term "captain of industry" is sometimes used interchangeably with "robber baron," which refers to business tycoons who employed ethically questionable methods to eliminate their competition and develop a monopoly in their industry, often with little empathy for workers. However, captains of industry were often philanthropists who made their wealth and used it in a way that would benefit society, such as providing more jobs or increasing productivity.
The phrase "captains of industry" was coined by English historian Thomas Carlyle in his 1843 book "Past and Present," in which he argued that wealthy businessmen, and not the British government, were the only people capable of pulling the lower class out of crippling poverty.
