The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word OLIGARCHS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
O
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More clues leading to the result OLIGARCHS
- Ruler over Laks is initially good, then roguish
- Influential businessmen of old girl corrupted with cash
- They have become rich, goals being corrupted?
- Chaos: girl dancing for rich businessmen
- The powerful old girl working with cash
- Rough school expelled Oscar, taking back paper first and rulers
- In Lagos with rich, corrupt little group of governors
- Obscenely rich with gas and oil, heartless members of ruling elite
- They wrought rich goals
- Magnates get rich with gas-oil processing free of international interference
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "They have become rich, goals being corrupted" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case they have become rich, goals being corrupted = oligarchs.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does OLIGARCHS mean?
OLIGARCHS noun- A member of an oligarchy; someone who is part of a small group that runs a country.
- (especially Russia, USA, Europe, or China) A very rich person, particularly with political power; a plutocrat.
- (cosmogony) A protoplanet formed during oligarchic accretion.