fat cat

What it means

A fat cat is a rich, privileged, and influential person — typically a senior executive, banker, or political donor — and the phrase nearly always implies excess, greed, or being out of touch with ordinary people. It's most common in political and media language about corporate elites and campaign financiers.

Examples

• Voters are tired of fat cats running the economy.
• The bill mostly benefits Wall Street fat cats.
• He started as a junior clerk and ended up a corporate fat cat.
• Cartoons love to depict bankers as fat cats with cigars.

Where it comes from

American political slang from the 1920s, first used by journalist Frank Kent to describe rich donors to political campaigns. The phrase spread to refer broadly to wealthy, well-connected executives and stayed in heavy use throughout the 20th century.

Related idioms