Financier

For the French baked item, see Financier (cake).

A financier (/fɪnənˈsɪər/; French: [finɑ̃ˈsje]) is a person who makes their living from investments, typically involving large sums of money and usually involving private equity and venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, corporate finance, investment banking, or large-scale asset management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment.

A financier today can be someone who makes their living from investing in up-and-coming or established companies and businesses. A financier makes money through this process when his or her investment is paid back with interest, from part of the company's equity awarded to them as specified by the business deal, or a financier can generate income through commission, performance, and management fees.

Job prerequisites

Financier is a term used to describe someone who handles money. Certain financier avenues require degrees and licenses including venture capitalists, hedge fund managers, trust fund managers, accountants, stockbrokers, financial advisors, or even public treasurers. Personal investing on the other hand, has no requirements and is open to all by means of the stock market or by word of mouth requests for money.

Types of financiers

• Financial advisor
• Stockbroker
• Investor/high-net-worth individual
• Trust fund manager
• Venture capitalist

Notable financiers

• John Jacob Astor III
• Shaukat Aziz
• Warren Buffett
• Anthony J. Drexel
• Jay Gould
• Calouste Gulbenkian
• Carl Icahn
• Kirk Kerkorian
• Edward Lampert
• Andrew W. Mellon
• Michael Milken
• J. P. Morgan
• T. Boone Pickens
• William Rockefeller
• Nathan Mayer Rothschild
• Rothschild banking family of France
• Russell Sage
• Jacob Schiff
• Haym Solomon
• George Soros
• Ruben Vardanian

See also

• Business magnate
• Philanthropy
• Usury

Further reading

• Josephson, Matthew, The Money Lords; the great finance capitalists, 1925–1950, New York, Weybright and Talley, 1972.