They were latter-day versions of George Pullman, the railroad-car magnate who in 1880 built an entire town for workers and their families, presiding over it like a feudal lord.
They told Brits to "take back control" and deployed buzzwords such as "independence" and "sovereignty" as if they were latter-day American revolutionaries.
Spanish executives reject the suggestion that they are latter-day conquistadors.
They are latter-day Robin Hoods, stealing "power" from the rich (the art world, the government) to give to the poor.
He speaks of the long "Judeo-Slavonic tradition" which refuses to let writers simply be writers - insisting instead that they be latter-day prophets for their people, guiding them through the wilderness.
These days, politicians of both parties assert on the campaign trail that they're latter-day Trumans, and voters, unbidden, surprise political reporters by telling them that they wish the 33rd president were still around, so they could vote for him.
When Watson and Crick played with tin plates and wire, they were doing the latter at first, and the former when they showed the results to others.
They're a latter-day version of day traders.
In some ways, though, they are a latter-day Abbott and Costello, with their investing styles the least of their differences.
Statham doesn't begrudge the latter: "They were my heroes growing up.
When police arrested one of the latter, they were pounced on by human rights lawyers and received a lecture on procedure.
