Naomi Wolf

If you look at weak democracies, the oligarchies that have taken undue control of them always seek to tamper with the vote. It is important for oligarchs to have elections to give their guy a veneer of legitimacy - and important for the vote always to turn out 'their way.

American Author

Margaret MacMillan

Nominally left- and right-wing populists differ primarily in their choice of which 'others' to exclude and attack, with the former singling out big corporations and oligarchs, and the latter targeting ethnic or religious minorities.

Canadian Historian

Alissa Quart

Americans overall may live better than medieval aristocrats could dream of, but that means nothing when oligarchs live in the neighborhood next door, flaunting their luxurious homes and top-quality private schools.

American Writer

Alexei Mordashov

Building companies involves creating great wealth. If that means I am an oligarch, OK, it's fine. But if being an oligarch is about buying football clubs, it is not for me.

Russian Businessman

Vladimir Putin

As far as oligarchs who acquire sports team abroad, and invest money abroad, I wouldn't treat this phenomenon as something bad.

Russian Statesman

Jovenel Moise

After decades of systematic plundering of state property by corrupt oligarchs, the country needs a collective awakening.

Haitian Politician

Yuri Milner

I am not an oligarch. I am a servant and I try to align my interests and those of my investors.

Vladimir Potanin

It is not so much that I am a blue-blooded oligarch: I just don't feel like an oligarch.

Aristotle

Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.

Greek Philosopher

Gary Shteyngart

If I still lived in Russia, I'd be dead... or a really effective oligarch.

An oligarch usually belongs to a small, elite faction controlling a community or country.

Small Group

The term 'oligarch' often implies significant wealth used to influence power.

Wealth Implied

'Oligarch' can carry a negative connotation, implying abuse of power and a lack of democracy.

Negative Connotation

 and dictators financing wars. Organized crime groups launder their profits through anonymous companies. Corrupt government officials award valuable contracts to corporations they secretly own. International oligarchs with criminal connections or questionable pasts

How exposing anonymous...

 land was the most important asset in the world. Politics, therefore, was the struggle to control land. And dictatorship meant that all the land was owned by a single ruler or by a small oligarch.