Nouveau riche (French for “new rich”), or new money, refers to a person who has acquired considerable wealth within his or her generation. This term is generally to emphasize that the individual was previously part of a lower socioeconomic rank, and that such wealth has provided the means for the acquisition of goods or luxuries that were previously unobtainable. The term can also be used in a derogatory fashion, for the purposes of social class distinction, to describe persons with newfound wealth and who are viewed as lacking the experience, finesse, or taste to use wealth in the same manner as old money - persons from families who have been wealthy for multiple generations.

The idea of nouveau riche and the struggle between the monetary elite is not a 21st century idea. According to David Gill, animosity between old inherited wealth and the appropriators of new wealth is often traced as far back as ancient Greece.Theognis, a sixth century B.C. aristocratic poet, wrote how “In former days, there was a tribe who knew no laws nor manners…These men are nobles, now, the gentlemen of old are now the trash.”^[3] This Greek poet wrote these words during a time in Greece, when money and economic growth in relation to trade gave rise to high class proprietors.

As sophisticated as the term sounds, nouveau riche, has been given a new definition and grandeur within the 21st century. This cultural shift in attitude towards the nouveaux riches began through the example of President Ronald Reagan, as stated by Nelson W. Aldrich Jr. in his 1988 work “Old Money: The Mythology of America’s Upper Class.” Aldrich states that Reagan as a self-made man surrounded himself with other self-made men, who had transcended society’s class ladder. Many believed that Reagan was an “embodiment” of the new money movement as seen through his election on the “right-wing politics characteristic of the Sunbelt nouveaux riches.” Reagan encouraged the embracing of the “Market Man” and further encouraged greater efficiency in corporate America through the use of the hostile take over.^[14] In the dawn of the rise of Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship has become appreciated for its underlying hard work and goal of greatness. The lines that once separated society between new money and old money have been changed since the birth of the “overnight multimillionaire”. Internet moguls such as David Filo and Jerry Yang, creators of Yahoo!, are helping to redefine terms such as nouveau riche. Reagan-like ideas gave way to a futuristic industry, as found in the electronics business, in which “a bunch of wide-eyed kids” who “weren’t just out to make money: they were idealistic and were going to change the world.” Joseph Nocera of the New York Times Magazine purported that a societal change occurred when “New Money became respectable the moment it was connected to a California computer start-up instead of to a Texas oil well.” ^[15]