The term's coinage for political purposes has been attributed to Frank Kent, a writer for The Baltimore Sun whose essay 'Fat Cats and Free Rides' appeared in the American Mercury, a magazine of commentary run by H. The word was first used in the 1920s in the United States to describe rich political donors. History 1917 caricature of 'Organized Big Business Interests' In the United Kingdom, it is also used to refer to executives whose pay is deemed by others to be excessive.
It is also commonly used to describe a rich, powerful and greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to 'live easy' off the work of others. The New York Times has described fat cats as symbols of 'a deeply corrupt campaign finance system riddled with loopholes', with Americans seeing them as recipients of the 'perks of power', but able to 'buy access, influence policy and even veto appointments'.
( January 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)įat cat is a political term originally describing a rich political donor, also called an angel or big-money man. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
