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Broligarchy is aneologism andportmanteau combiningoligarchy andbroism describing the rule of government by a coterie ofextremely wealthy men (occupying leadership roles in thetech companies and tech-enabled businesses) who are perceived by the public astech bros.[1][2][3] It is also known astech oligarchy.[4][5][6]
According toProspect magazine, "Broligarchy appears in surfer language in the early 2000s “when a small group of bros run a break”—referring to locals controlling a surf spot."[7][8]
The modern use of the termsbroligarch andbroligarchy can be traced to a Twitter post in 2009.[1][9] Broligarchy appeared onUrban Dictionary in 2011.[10] The terms gained wide adoption during the2024 US presidential election and thesecond Trump presidency.[8]
The recent use of the terms appeared onX in March 2024 byCondé Nast editor Luke Zaleski,[11] who calledElon Musk "the world's first broligarch".[12] The term broligarch was used in themainstream media in late July 2024 in a news article inThe Observer by the British journalistCarole Cadwalladr.[13]
In early August 2024, the termbroligarch appeared in the title of articles inthe Atlantic magazine byBrooke Harrington[14] and in the English edition ofAl Majalla by Bryn Haworth.[15] The subsequent months saw a flurry of media usage following the2024 US presidential election in November of the same year[2][16] and thesecond inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2025.[17][18][19][20][21]
In the 2021 bookThe Tyranny of Big Tech,Republican Party politician and seniorUnited States Senate member ofMissouriJosh Hawley argued that major technology companies likeGoogle,Facebook,Amazon, andApple have become tech oligarchs with overwhelming economic and political power. He describes these companies as modern-dayrobber barons who are draining prosperity and power from the middle class and creating a new oligarchy.[22]