feather one's nest

present singular third person feathers one's nest · participle present feathering one's nest · participle past feathered one's nest · past feathered one's nest · alternative feather one's own nest

1. idiomaticTo achieve benefits, especially financial ones, by taking advantage of the opportunities with which one is presented; to amass a comfortable amount of personal wealth; especially, to do so to a degree that involves venality (e.g., insider trading, police corruption).

   It may do him some harm, perhaps, but Dempster must have feathered his nest pretty well; he can afford to lose a little business.

   1857, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “[Janet’s Repentance.] Chapter 13”, in Scenes of Clerical Life […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published January 1858, →OCLC, page 229

   2 more examples

   But it would be very unjust to think of all the Railway Members as speculators and simply out to feather their own nests, not that it is fair to think of George Hudson in this light alone.

   1960 March 28, N. Caplan, “The Railway Member of Parliament”, in Railway Magazine, page 207

   “It's a handful of west coast financiers doing what Wall Street bankers have long done—feathering their nests,” says Michael Moritz, the billionaire former leader of Sequoia Capital.

   2024 July 20, Tabby Kinder, George Hammond, Hannah Murphy, Alex Rogers, quoting Michael Moritz, “Has Silicon Valley gone Maga?”, in FT Weekend (Big Read section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6

   Synonyms: line one's pockets, look out for number one