merchant prince

plural merchant princes

1. figurativelyhistoricalA mercantile plutocrat: a man who wields great de facto political power by virtue of economic assets derived from trade and commerce.

   ...you’re establishing a plutocracy. You’re making us a land of traders and merchant princes. Then what of the future?

   1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation, Pt. V: “The Merchant Princes”, Ch. 18, p. 189

   1 more example

   The customs and duties paid by each ship, great or small, amount in the whole to 70 or 80 slaves. The king [sc. of Ardrah] has the first choice of goods, whether in the payment of duties, or in exchange for slaves; the hereditary prince the second, the merchant prince the third, the Marbut the fourth, and afterwards the great officers of the court.

   1760, The Modern Part of an Universal History, Vol. XVI, Bk. xvii, Ch. vii, p. 466

   Synonyms: captain of industry

2. figurativelyA prince among merchants: a wealthy and influential merchant.