Other forms: capitalists
Someone who hopes to profit by investing money or financing business ventures is a capitalist. A nation's economy is described as capitalist if it's based on private ownership and profit.
The word capitalist appeared in 1791, taken from the French word capitaliste. A capitalist is someone who believes in the economic philosophy of Capitalism, a system of privately-owned, for-profit businesses. A capitalist might believe in free enterprise and the individual’s ability to gain wealth through intelligence and hard work. Capitalist can also be used to describe a self-interested, every-man-for-himself approach to the world.