April 5, 1649 - Elihu Yale
Yale's inclusion here rests on his tenure as President of the East India Company's Madras settlement, where he was removed from office on charges of corruption and self-dealing — a career shaped as much by personal enrichment as by colonial administration. The fortune he brought back to Britain, built largely on the diamond trade, bore the marks of a system in which company officials routinely exploited their positions at the expense of local populations. That wealth was later laundered into philanthropy, most famously the donation that gave Yale University its name.
From Wikipedia
Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British-American colonial administrator.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, and India.
He became a clerk for the East India Company at Fort St. George, later Madras, and eventually rose to the Presidency of the settlement. He was later removed from the post under charges of corruption for self-dealing, and required to pay a fine.
In 1699, he returned to Britain with a considerable fortune, around £200,000 (equivalent to £32.2 million in 2025), mostly made by selling diamonds, and spent his time and wealth in philanthropy and art collecting.
He was the primary benefactor of Yale College, now Yale University, which was named in his honor, following a donation of books, portraits, and textiles at the request of Rev. Cotton Mather, a Harvard University graduate.
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