Editing Businessperson (section)

== History ==
=== Medieval period: Rise of the merchant class ===
Merchants emerged as a [[class (social)|social class]] in [[medieval Italy]]. Between 1300 and 1500, modern accounting, the [[bill of exchange]], and [[limited liability]] were invented, and thus, the world saw "the first true bankers", who were certainly businesspeople.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roberts|first=J.M.|title=The Penguin History of the World, Sixth Edition|year=2013|publisher=Penguin|location=New York|pages=506|isbn=9780141968728|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Koj8JeOLgTcC}}</ref>{{qn|date=December 2020}}

Around the same time, Europe saw the "[[Commercial revolution|emergence of rich merchants.]]"<ref>{{cite book|last= Roberts|first= J.M.|title= The Penguin History of the World, Sixth Edition|year= 2013|publisher= Penguin|location= New York|pages= 509}}</ref> This "rise of the merchant class" came as Europe "needed a middleman" for the first time, and these "burghers" or "[[bourgeois]]" were the people who played this role.<ref>{{cite book|last= Roberts|first= J.M.|title= The Penguin History of the World, Sixth Edition|year= 2013|publisher= Penguin|location= New York|pages=510}}</ref>

=== Renaissance to Enlightenment: Rise of the capitalist ===
Europe became the dominant global [[commercial power]] in the 16th century, and as Europeans developed new tools for business, new types of "business people" began to use those tools. In this period, Europe developed and used [[paper money]], [[cheque]]s, and [[joint-stock companies]] (and their shares of [[capital stock]]).<ref>{{cite book|last= Roberts|first=J.M.|title=The Penguin History of the World, Sixth Edition|year=2013|publisher=Penguin|location=New York|pages=558}}</ref> Developments in [[actuarial science]] and [[underwriting]] led to insurance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=J.M.|title=The Penguin History of the World, Sixth Edition|year=2013|publisher=Penguin|location=New York|pages=559}}</ref> Together, these new tools were used by a new kind of businessperson, the [[capitalist]]. These people owned or financed businesses as investors, but they were not merchants of goods. These capitalists were a major force in the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2008 |title=Industrial Revolution Definition: History, Pros, and Cons |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/industrial-revolution.asp#:~:text=The%20industrial%20revolution%20developed%20in,to%20increase%20output%20and%20profitability. |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=Investopedia |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] reports the earliest known use of the word "business-men" in 1798, and of "business-man" in 1803. By 1860, the spelling "businessmen" had emerged.<ref>{{oed|businessman}}</ref>

[[Merriam Webster]] reports the earliest known use of the word "businesswoman" in 1827.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of "businesswoman" |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/businesswoman#:~:text=first%20known,above |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=Merriam-Webster }}</ref>

=== Modern period: Rise of the business magnate ===
[[File:Frank-carr-businessperson-common-history.jpg|thumb|Frank Carr c. 1965]]
The newest kind of [[Business executive|corporate executive]] working under a [[business magnate]] is the manager. One of the first true founders of the management profession was [[Robert Owen]] (1771–1858). He was also a [[business magnate]] in Scotland.<ref>{{cite book|last= Drucker|first= Peter|title= Management, Revised Edition|url= https://archive.org/details/management0000druc|url-access= registration|year= 2008|publisher= Collins Business|location= New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/management0000druc/page/13 13]}}</ref> He studied the "problems of [[productivity]] and [[motivation]]", and was followed by [[Frederick Winslow Taylor]] (1856–1915), who was the first person who studied work with the motive to train his [[Employment|staff]] in the field of management to make them efficient managers capable of managing his business.<ref>{{cite book|last= Drucker|first=Peter|title=Management, Revised Edition|url=https://archive.org/details/management0000druc|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Collins Business|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/management0000druc/page/14 14]}}</ref> After [[World War I]], management became popular due to the example of [[Herbert Hoover]] and the [[Harvard Business School]], which offered [[MBA|degrees in business administration]] (management) with the motive to develop efficient managers so that business magnates could hire them with the goal to increase productivity of the [[Privately held company|private establishment]]s business magnates own.<ref>{{cite book|last=Drucker|first=Peter|title=Management, Revised Edition|url=https://archive.org/details/management0000druc|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Collins Business|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/management0000druc/page/15 15–16]}}</ref>