ability to influence is positional rather than intentional. But there are quite a number who use their power to influence politics to the detriment of society as a whole. There were reasons that there was backlash in the early 1900's against the so-called robber barons and trusts that grew out of the industrial revolution; their power and influence, their disdain for regulation, their accumulation of wealth that the Progressive movement at the time considered the establishment of an aristocracy incompatible with a democratic republic. That movement, embodied probably more by the Roosevelts than any other politicians at the time, didn't necessarily seek to break up all the trusts (though they did some), but it did seek to bring them under control. Still that was enough to earn them the enmity of the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts and Astors, etc.

Since FDR we've started to see the rise again of corporate power and, of course, with the advent of the technology revolution, the accumulation of enormous power in the hands of some individuals, aided and abetted by the Congress and the courts. Some of them do this intentionally; the Kochs, the Adelsons, the Mercers, the Thiels, etc. who seek to consolidate their power in what I think is a zero sum game. They aren't above using culture war cues to enhance this power which I think has splintered progressives and populists alike. A lot of people feel like they have less control or are dispossessed by factors like automation or internationalization and they're probably right. But they are not in agreement over what to do about it, which is one reason we'll quite possibly get Trump v. Sanders in the election. Either way, this splintering suits the people at the top just fine. They'll continue to profit and expand their power which is the objective of a lot of them.

That's my problem with them and in particular those who inherit that wealth and believe in their own wisdom due to an entitlement. I'm not looking to eliminate that wealth, but definitely to ensure that laws protect society from those who wield it. I prefer to do that with taxation and regulation rather than populist movements or full blown revolutions.