History Main / HonestCorporateExecutive

As of the second half of TheNewTens, the Honest Corporate Executive is on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope as more and more horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do anything about them--are being exposed at numerous big name corporations and confirmed to have existed for years, if not decades. More recent generations are gradually [[CapitalismIsBad losing faith in capitalism altogether]], and the belief that [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives there is no such thing as an honest executive]] is becoming more standard.

As of the second half of TheNewTens, the Honest Corporate Executive is on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope as more and more horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do anything about them--are being exposed at numerous companies and confirmed to have existed for years, if not decades. More recent generations are gradually [[CapitalismIsBad losing faith in capitalism altogether]], and the belief that [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives there is no such thing as an honest executive]] is becoming more standard.

* In the second ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', the Czerka docking manager became upset over the dirty actions of his boss and became an informant for the Telos Security force. His dirty boss wants him dead. TSF wants him to come out of hiding to testify against his boss. Your character decides his fate, of course.

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* The Website/QuestDen adventure ''Viral by Committee'' has Contagion, who does his best to run his project with environmental preservation as a major priority. His convictions born in large part from seeing firsthand what damage a corrupt and incompetent project lead can cause, his previous boss Sloth having caused his project's catastrophic failure with a string of short-sighted and selfish decisions.

As of the second half of TheNewTens, the Honest Corporate Executive is on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope as more and more horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do anything about them--are being exposed at numerous companies. More recent generations are gradually [[CapitalismIsBad losing faith in capitalism altogether]], and the belief that [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives there is no such thing as an honest executive]] is becoming more standard.

** An even greater example, though only mentioned in passing, is the company whose stock Kaiba purchases 51% of when making a bet with Gozaburo that he could turn a million-dollar investment into ten million. He intentionally seeks out a company with a reputation for treating its employees like family then threatens to fire all of them with his new majority-stake, forcing the CEO to effectively give him all the company's profits in return for him not following through with it.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Pegasus develops into this sequel series, to the point of becoming the closest thing to the BigGood in the series. Even then, his underhanded tactics in the original were more personal than buisiness.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' has Scrooge [=McDuck=]. Call him a greedy bargainer, call him a slavedriving taskmaster, call him an exploitative manipulator... but he prides himself on earning his fortune "square" without being a dishonest and immoral businessman -- unlike his EvilCounterpart, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Flintheart Glomgold]]. Typical DependingOnTheWriter and CharacterizationMarchesOn caveats apply. The one time he veered into Corrupt territory in ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' ended up costing him his relationship with his family, and he spends years alone and miserable until he reconciled with Donald and met his great-nephews, who brought out the spark of adventure he let lie dormant.

* ''ComicBook/LargoWinch'' is all about a young inheritor trying his utmost to be this, but is surrounded with money-grubbing, power-hungry and backstabbing bastards.
* Richard Rich Sr. from ''ComicBook/RichieRich'', by all accounts, became the richest man in the world through honest means, and continues to practice them well into his tenure and after starting a family. On top of having excellent financial talent and investment sense, [[BenevolentBoss he pays his employees excellent wages and ensures lasting job security]], and has reportedly never needed to fire anyone in his life as he's earned their genuine loyalty and productivity. [[Film/RichieRich The film]] directly places him and his methods against [[BigBad the villainous Van Dough]] -- once Van Dough attempts to usurp the company and begins acting on [[CorruptCorporateExecutive "easier", but far less ethical practices]] (massive downsizing, slashing wages, and quietly "taking out" anyone in their way to fortunes), [[GoodCapitalismEvilCapitalism the differences are night and day]].
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', Charmy Bee after he bought out Crimson Cobra Inc ending the threat of the villain The Crimson Cobra.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': G.B. Blackrock, owner and founder of Blackrock Industries. He's firmly on the Autobot's side, even giving them free fuel, after getting involved in their war when Shockwave attacks an oil rig he owns and cripples one of his best workers. At one point, he's asked to help a government agency find out more about the Transformers, and tries to tell them the Autobots are good. [[CassandraTruth He's promptly kicked out for this.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'': Preston Whitmore is tremendously successful businessman who is very proud of the fact that he's going to the afterlife with a clear conscience.
* Austin Bux from ''WesternAnimation/GrandmaGotRunOverByAReindeer'' is very rich, and certainly not above commercialism, but is shown to be an all around decent guy and in the end promises to help Grandma Spankenheimer spread her store around the country.

** Ultimately subverted (although not in a major way) with Gordon, he is a major pusher for continuing after the orchid but also indicates that any drugs from the orchid could/should be sold for affordable prices (if only because it will be in high enough demand to afford it). He's a bit of a {{Jerkass}} though and somewhat suggests selling any new anesthetic derived form the spider to the highest bidder rather than turn it back over to their company.
* ''Film/Cyclone1978'': Downplayed with Mr. Taylor from the plane. He's flying to Mexico to try and put a stop to a fisherman's union and doesn't get why people want one. On the other hand, he argues that he pays good prices for the seafood the fishermen catch and gives them and their families high-quality housing and low interest loans. He's still one of the more selfish and unhelpful survivors, but doesn't display a complete LackOfEmpathy.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'': John Hammond truly believes in his vision of a theme park with real life dinosaurs. He doesn't like the [[EvilLawyerJoke blood-sucking lawyer]] and, when convinced that his park can never be made safe, abandons it. (Note that this was changed from [[Literature/JurassicPark the book]], where he was more on the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt]] side of corporate executives, and it's one of the few changes to the book everyone agreed was for the better.)

* ''Literature/TheCaseOfTheToxicSpellDump:'' Given how most of the entrepreneurs and CEO's investigated for potential polluting (such as Aviation innovator Magister Arnold, medical researcher Razman Durani and the manager of the titular dump, Tony Sudakis) turn out to be innocent there are a surprisingly large amount of these in the story (although they're unhappiness at being investigated makes this less apparent on a first read). Furthermore, the guilty party's motivation behind the dumping of toxic substances isn't corporate greed and cost-cutting, but rather the after effects of a nebulous conspiracy to resurrect a GodOfEvil.

* In the [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]], Klaus Hauptmann is an arrogant, aggressive, judgmental and vindictive human being in general, but he is also scrupulously honest in his dealings as the head of the Hauptman Cartel, the largest commercial/industrial combine in Manticore. Part of it is just rolled up in his pride at his reputation of being the wealthiest individual in the system by legitimate means, but even Honor Harrington, who was so infuriated by his actions that she threatened to ''kill him'' if he followed through on a threat[[note]]although to be fair, the threat ''was'' was to [[ParentsInDistress blackmail her parents]] and destroy their professional reputations, which plays against this trope, and the threat to kill him took the form of a legal challenge to a duel[[/note]], acknowledged that he likely had nothing to do with the corruption and treason she had discovered on the part of some of his underlings. When SpacePirates begin to attack Manticoran merchant ships passing through the Silesian Confederacy, Hauptmann, who always claims to care for his employees, puts his money where his mouth is and instructs every merchant captain in his employ to present Hauptmann's generous ransom offer to any pirate who boards a Hauptmann merchant ship; even more than just the promise, he ''means it''. He also despises Manpower enough to build frigates for the Anti-Slavery League at below cost, knowing that they will be used by the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Audubon Ballroom]] as privateers to go after slave ships.
** Bernardus Van Dort and his partners provide interesting example due to started out as a cabal of WellIntentionedExtremist/ CorruptCorporateExecutive's before becoming this. They built an economic monopoly, and they built it ruthlessly, but they did this to prevent a corrupt government from annexing them [[DividedWeFall if they were economically weak]] and once that threat has passed, try to give back the economic opportunities to those they've exploited up to that point.

** Chester Stone III from ''Tripwire'' might not be a ''great'' businessman, but there's no any indication that he's every broke or bent any laws with his home movie company, either before or after it started going belly up, and he in fact becomes a victim of the story due to the scheming to a very predatory LoanShark.

* Manex, from the New Apsolon Trilogy in the ''Literature/JediApprentice'' provides a somewhat pragmatic example. He spends most of his page-time as a RedHerring, and he is a bit hedonistic, but he ultimately qualifies for this trope. The writer gives the sense that he chooses to be honest due to feeling that it would be needless and cowardly to stoop to corruption. He supports the reform government, due to personal distaste for the past dictatorship, and due to feeling that his business will actually do better in a free market with a government where people are happy and productive, and the democratic government can inspire the lifting various long-lasting trade embargoes. He also spends much of his page-time providing material aide and advice to the Jedi (especially after [[spoiler:his brother is murdered by the villains]]), although it takes them a long time to completely trust him.

* Jean Valjean in ''Literature/LesMiserables''. He becomes successful thanks to his new cheap method of manufacturing black jet while also managing to uplift the whole town's economy all the while taking care of his workers and even other people. He is so popular that he is elected mayor (after refusing the honour multiple times). He is wrecked with guilt after finding out that a woman he allowed to be fired based on rumours ended up destitute and eventually abandons his business to save an innocent man from prison.

* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard:'' Boss Hogg's WhiteSheep twin brother (a OneShotCharacter) has spent years traveling across South America, and made several fortunes from oil wells, cattle ranches, emerald mines, and lumberyards. He gives all of his money to charity almost as fast as he makes it. At the end of the episode, he even gives away his car and hitchhikes out of town.

** "The White Rabbit Job" Eliot notes that the mark, Charles Dodgeson, hasn't broken any laws and is not the sort of person they target. The whole reason the team was asked to intervene is because Dodgeson is suffering from a guilt complex from an accident where his cousin died, and he's taking his company down with him, but not because of illegal or immoral practices, but more because he couldn't focus on the job due to his misplaced survivor's guilt.

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': In "Murderers' Sky", Adam Chung, the Chinese CEO of a large shipping company, refuses to have his business taken over by a Hong Kong criminal cartel. This leads to two assassination attempts on him... [[spoiler:with the second being the one to end his life]]. Some of them work for AssholeVictim's and try to make things better when their bosses die, while others might be victims themselves, often due to their honesty obstructing a villains plan.

** Walter Gilrich in ''For Whom the Balls Toll'' is portrayed as a major obstacle in his bother and business partners plan to demolish a historic home.

** In ''Murder According to Maggie'' Harriet De Vol, works hard to keep the soon to be AssholeVictim from unjustly canceling the TV show most of the guest characters work for.

** In "Snow White, Blood Red" sportswear manufacturer Pamela Leeds is portrayed fairly sympathetically, aside perhaps from the unprofessionalism of sleeping with Gunanr when they had a contract together. Her decision to try and replace Gunnar with Larry is portrayed sympathetically. [[spoiler:After Larry is murdered to, she isn't concerned with the lost contract, but simply shaken and saddened about why someone would kill "that sweet kid."]]

* David Wallace in ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' sometimes comes off as a PointyHairedBoss when he cracks down on some of Michael's antics, but when one removes themselves from Michael's viewpoint, all of David's actions come off reasonable and well within previously established rules. His transferring of Holly after finding out about her romance to Michael is often cited as one of his more "villainous" actions, but it's well within the established company rules previously shown when Michael tried dating Jan while the latter still worked for Dunder-Mifflin. It's very telling that in "The Deposition", David Wallace comes off more sympathetic at the end of the episode than Jan, who is willing to throw Michael, her own ''boyfriend'' and only supporter of her case, under the bus, while David comes clean about Michael never having had a real chance at Jan's old job despite scoring an interview, with his honesty garnering some respect from Michael, who admits David's previously shady move is a sad, inevitable fact of life in corporate America.

** Harold Finch and his partner Nathan Ingram. Finch built a Machine that could surveil everyone to find threats to national security, and locked up the OS so tight nobody, not even himself, could access it and manipulate it. Nathan sold the Machine to the US Government for''' ''one dollar'' '''because he believed that building it was his patriotic duty as an American citizen.

** As shown in a flashback, currency manager Paul Hubble only got involved in the counterfeiting ring after he was tricked into moving dirty money for a seemingly legitimate purpose and is horrified to find out (even before [[spoiler:being forced to witness a murder to warn him) that his new boss means business.]] Despite the risks and being offered four times his previously salary, he never becomes comfortable with the racket and tries to tip off the authorities the first chance he gets.

* Oliver Queen on ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', in sharp contrast to Lionel Luthor, ComicBook/LexLuthor (who ''used'' to be this trope in the early seasons before becoming corrupt later on), and Tess Mercer. He may be a deeply screwed-up BrokenAce, and he has no problems with throwing his weight around, but his money was all made legitimately and he despises the way that companies like [=LuthorCorp=] treat the world as if it were their own personal stripmine. Later on, Ollie is joined in this role by [[spoiler:Tess Mercer]], who undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and joins the heroes.

** Wainwright Jakobs, introduced in ''VideoGame/Borderlands3''. While his father was a negligent (though not outright cruel) boss, as seen in [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands 1}} the first Borderlands]], Wainwright is a SouthernGentleman through-and-through. He cares about his employees, [[AFatherToHisMen and inspires loyalty in them in turn]]. In ''Guns, Love & Tentacles'', his reaction to seeing a cult performing a clearly supernatural ritual of HumanSacrifice to summon an EldritchAbomination is to grab his shotgun and ''personally'' intervene.

** In the series' mythology, Zenithar, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Aedric Divine]] God of Work and Commerce preaches that this is the type of person to be in business, and that the path to peace and prosperity is through earnest work and honest profit. He's described by his followers as the one most in-touch with mortal affairs, and is also described as the "god who will always win", as he makes it so [[XanatosGambit he stands to gain from any action]].

* Aaron Griffin in ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar 3'', former CEO of Griffin Imulsion and current BadassLongcoat Stranded boss. As a CEO he was a huge asshole and a slavedriver with a ZeroPercentApprovalRating among his staff, but his was the only imulsion company with ''zero'' workplace deaths. He didn't give half a shit whether or not his workers were ''happy'', as long as they were safe, and did a magazine interview where he chewed out his rival companies for trying so hard to be everybody's friend that they [[NoOSHACompliance sacrifice the safety of their workers]].

* Most of the {{Mega Corp}}s of the Board in ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'' are [[MurderIsTheBestSolution vicious]], [[SanityHasAdvantages insane]], [[IncompetenceInc incompetent]], or some combination thereof. Monarch Stellar Industries, on the other hand, was the Board's TokenGoodTeammate until getting kicked off; it's reasonably well-managed, and cares about its workers. Its CEO, Sanjar Nandi, is likewise a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who can even [[spoiler:sign a peace treaty with anti-capitalist anarchists he shares his planet with]].

** The "Deadlock Protocol" reveals that [[spoiler:the founder of the Corpus, Parvos Granum, was a man who espoused ideals of self-reliance, hard work and treating employees right. Naturally, when he manages to get out of his void prison he's utterly disgusted by the modern Corpus and plans on either reforming or restarting the Board]].

** Hiroshi Sato became one of the richest men in Republic City from running a legitimate business. He's apparently passing on his ethics to his daughter. [[spoiler:Subverted in that he's not only an Equalist, but also because he framed his competitor, Cabbage Corp, making him abhorrently immoral.]]
** Played straight with his daughter, Asami, when she assumes control over the company. She's one of the main heroes, and makes great strides in rebuilding the city after the events of season 2.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The appropriately named Filthy Rich is this, quite surprisingly considering what his daughter Diamond Tiara and wife Spoiled Rich are like (though the latter is to blame for the former). He's very amiable to the Apple Family (because they helped him gain most of his fortune) and an all-around nice guy to everyone. His rare bits of annoyances were when Cheerilee refers to him by his first name (which is understandable, given the name) though she corrects himself quickly and in a flashback when he thought Applejack was trying to renege on a business deal. Somewhat averted with his ''Equestria Girls'' counterpart in ''Legend of Everfree'' who acts the part of a CorruptCorporateExecutive but [[VillainyFreeVillain doesn't actually do anything corrupt or amoral]], simply wanting to lay claim to land he now legally owns and even giving Gloriosa Daisy an extra week to pay her mortgage [[spoiler:which he, albeit begrudgingly, actually honors in the end]].
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MummiesAlive'', Presley's mother Amanada, is pleading with a buissness man who wants to tear down a historical old building. However, he points out that the reason why he's doing this is not to make himself rich, but it's because [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure he genuinely cares about the well-being of others and does not want anyone to get hurt due to how unsafe the building is.]]
->'''Mr. Ludie''': Hey [[InvertedTrope I'm not some]] [[OnlyInItForTheMoney greedy guy getting rich]], I just don't want to have bricks falling on people's heads.
->'''Amanda Carnovan''': [[WhyCantIHateYou Why'd you have to be so nice and reasonable?]]

* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Vivian and Constance D'Aramis (who have the CollectiveIdentity as the hero Crimson Fox) run their perfume company ethically and first started it to be an honest competitor to the Corrupt CorporateExecutive who killed their parents, in order to drive him out of business and expose him for who he was.

* Richard Rich from ''ComicBook/RichieRich''.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', Charmy Bee after he bought out Crimson Cobra Inc ending the threat of the villian The Crimson Cobra.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' Most of the ones to appear are indeed fairly corrupt but there are exceptions (several of them victims, such as the titular character from ''Last Salute to the Commodore'', a SelfMadeMan proud of the quality of his ships and upset about the dealings of his son-in-law. Another notable example is In ''The Conspirators'' an armament man that IRA representative Joe Devlin visits refuses to sell to him.

* Reeve Tuesti of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is an example of the beleaguered InternalReformist surrounded by CorruptCorporateExecutive types: President Shinra believes in controlling the world [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney with money]], and later his son Rufus prefers ruling through fear. The head of the Science department can only be described as a MadScientist, and the heads of Public Safety (read:military police) and Weapons Development are both [[GeneralRipper General Rippers]]. Reeve himself is the head of Urban Development, not one of the departments that makes the company a great deal of money, and as such he has next to no influence on company policy...[[spoiler:at least until he's ordered to become TheMole in the heroes' party via an animatronic cat he'd built as a hobby, and executes a neat HeelFaceTurn as soon as this is discovered.]]

Often (but not necessarily) also a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, UnclePennybags, and/or a BenevolentBoss. If he's part of the minority in his organization that are trying to resist the rest's [[CorruptCorporateExecutive rampant corruption]], he would probably be also an InternalReformist. If he's [[WhatYouAreInTheDark given the chance to act corrupt]], expect him to say ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules. May teach AnAesop that GoodPaysBetter.

* ''Film/TripleThreat'': Tian Xiao Xian, an heiress from China, pledges money to charity in order to combat corruption.

* Veronica's father, Hiram Lodge, from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', is usually shown to be a fair and honest executive, even once noting how he knows thousands of jobs hang in the balance of his decisions. He also often tries to teach Veronica what life is like for the vast majority of people who aren't as wealthy as him, to teach her some humility and compassion.

* ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse has Scrooge [=McDuck=]. Call him a greedy bargainer, call him a slavedriving taskmaster, call him an exploitative manipulator... but he prides himself on earning his fortune "square" without being a dishonest and immoral businessman -- unlike his EvilCounterpart, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Flintheart Glomgold]]. Typical DependingOnTheWriter and CharacterizationMarchesOn caveats apply. The one time he veered into Corrupt territory in ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' ended up costing him his relationship with his family, and he spends years alone and miserable until he reconciled with Donald and met his great-nephews, who brought out the spark of adventure he let lie dormant.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformers:'' G.B. Blackrock, owner and founder of Blackrock Industries. He's firmly on the Autobot's side, even giving them free fuel, after getting involved in their war when Shockwave attacks an oil rig he owns and cripples one of his best workers. At one point, he's asked to help a government agency find out more about the Transformers, and tries to tell them the Autobots are good. [[CassandraTruth He's promptly kicked out for this.]]

* ''Series/Stargirl2020'': Barb is initially a low-ranking, yet idealistic member of Jordan's staff who suggests preserving reminders of better days. By season 2, she's seen participating in board meetings and manages to come up with a strategy the will avoid closing a factory and putting almost 2,000 people out of work even though she and the other board members won't actually ''make'' money by implementing her idea.

* Another example from the Duckverse occurs in ''ComicBook/DarkwingDuck'': When [[spoiler: Launchpad [=McQuack=]]] is appointed as the new CEO of Quackwerks, he actually does a lot of good with the company and former Crimebots/now Herobots, until (in the Joe Books omnibus, anyway), he steps down during the "Campaign Carnage" arc.

* Yoshino, the head of the Poseidon delegation in ''Anime/AppleseedExMachina''. [[spoiler: When Poseidon becomes aware that their loose [[AppliedPhlebotinum phlebotinum]] is causing all the trouble, she and her corporation are more than willing to help clean up the mess.]]

** This seems to be a case of LikeFatherLikeSon, as Thomas Wayne almost ruined the company as well when he set about trying to help the city out of an economic crisis. His efforts (and his tragic death) made a difference, [[spoiler: much to Ra's Al Ghul's annoyance.]]

* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': Hammond's SpiritualSuccessor Simon Masrani is very similar in fulfilling Hammond's dream, caring more about whether the dinosaurs and visitors are happy rather than profits. His problem was mainly biting off more than he could chew when he tried to breed an extra terrifying dinosaur for a new attraction [[spoiler: and got killed for his trouble. It didn't help that his chief scientist and chief of security did a FaceHeelTurn, designing the new dinosaur as a war machine to sell to the military.]]
* Vickers in ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' is probably the ''only'' honest executive ever employed by the Weyland Corporation. She expresses concern over the cost of the mission crippling the company. She is the only one actively concerned about the lives of the crew and who takes adequate precautions against alien contamination. [[spoiler: Not that it helps.]]

* ''Literature/{{Airframe}}'' has Casey Singleton, an executive at the Norton Aircraft Company, who's tasked with investigating the cause of a deadly incident involving one of their planes. Though she tries to do the right thing throughout, toward the end she's turned up nothing beyond some videos of the terrifying ride, she's being hounded by reporters, and [[spoiler: she's been set up by her [[CorruptCorporateExecutive own superior]] to take the fall if the plane is discredited]].

* Rare for ''Series/TwentyFour'', but its seventh season features an example with Doug Knowles, who tries to help Tony Almeida when he discovers the lengths to which Jonas Hodges was willing to go to harm the country. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: things don't go well for him when Hodges finds out]].

* Oliver Queen's stepfather Walter Steele in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' is one, in stark contrast to Ollie's mother Moira. When Oliver takes over his parents' business, he is technically an honest executive, it's just that he cares more about being the Arrow than running his business [[spoiler: which is how his company gets bought out from under him]].

* Oliver Queen on ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', in sharp contrast to Lionel Luthor, ComicBook/LexLuthor (who ''used'' to be this trope in the early seasons before becoming corrupt later on), and Tess Mercer. He may be a deeply screwed-up BrokenAce, and he has no problems with throwing his weight around, but his money was all made legitimately and he despises the way that companies like [=LuthorCorp=] treat the world as if it were their own personal stripmine. Later on, Ollie is joined in this role by [[spoiler: Tess Mercer]], who undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and joins the heroes.

* [[spoiler: Regal Bryant]], from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' is revealed to be the President of the neatly-run, efficient [[MegaCorp Lezareno Company,]] which owns a beach resort city, and provides the world with a vast array of quality consumer goods, from novelty Iron Maidens to high-quality handcuffs. Though he's in prison for murder when you first meet him, it's a bum rap. Turns out he's a disciplined, diplomatic, highly-intelligent gentleman.

* When Kell accidentally takes over Herd Thinners in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' she tries to change the corporation's corrupt policies. [[spoiler: It turns out the board of directors are still loyal to R.L. and waiting for him to recover from his [[KlingonPromotion injuries]].]] She later founds her own company and maintains a very loyal workforce because she cares about her employees and all their differences.

** Hiroshi Sato became one of the richest men in Republic City from running a legitimate business. He's apparently passing on his ethics to his daughter. [[spoiler: Subverted in that he's not only an Equalist, but also because he framed his competitor, Cabbage Corp, making him abhorrently immoral.]]

** The EccentricMillionaire Varrick from Season 2 initially seems like this; there's some unsavory rumors, and he will resort to bribery to re-rig a KangarooCourt, but he's been a decent ally to Korra nonetheless. [[spoiler:Later on, he proves to have been manipulating the war so that he can potentially profit from it, even secretly bankrupting Future Industries so that he could buy it out from Asami.]] Then he re-appears in season 3 because his new patron believes in second chances. In season 4, he fully fits this trope, [[spoiler: when he refuses to weaponize spirit vine technology due to its dangerous potential, despite how much money he could make off it.]]

--> '''Jainchill:''' I don't build a thing that's going to be a slum in twenty years, and I won't doze those hills. What I build conforms to the land.

--> '''Gun Dealer:''' What I sell goes out under license, strictly legal.
--> '''Devlin:''' (irritably) I'm offering a considerable amount, man. Surely that'll cover any legal technicalities.
--> '''Gun Dealer:''' You got the wrong guy, sorry.

--> '''Neil:''' Ah, anyone can make money if that's all you want to do. Problem is most developers destroy the past. Here you learn to reach a kind of accommodation.

--->'''Michael:''' You expect to get screwed by your company, but you never expect to get screwed by your girlfriend.