German oligarchs helped Hitler rise to power—only to end up in concentration camps. A cautionary tale for today’s corporate elite?
History is ruthless to those who believe they can control tyrants. In the early 1930s, German industrialists saw Adolf Hitler as a useful tool—a blunt instrument they could wield to crush unions, eliminate political instability, and create a business-friendly dictatorship. They financed his rise, thinking they were playing him. Instead, Hitler played them, and many of these same elites later found themselves stripped of power, imprisoned, or even executed.
Alfred Hugenberg, a media mogul who opened the floodgates for Hitler’s chancellorship, was warned of his mistake. He dismissed the danger—until he found himself fleeing for his life. Siemens, once a pillar of German industry, was forced into the Nazi war machine, employing 80,000 slave laborers in a system of mass murder and totalitarian rule.
Corporate greed and political arrogance have always been a volatile mix. Business leaders bet on Hitler to stabilize the economy. Instead, he shattered every norm, wiped out rivals, and ruled by fear. Today’s billionaire class—whether in Silicon Valley, Wall Street, or beyond—should take heed. History has a way of swallowing those who think they can harness the storm. Will they learn, or will they repeat the fatal mistake of the oligarchs who thought they could control a monster?
