1. The name of a governor in India under the Mogul Empire: Sam found out that a nabob was a deputy provincial governor actin under a soubah, or viceroy.
2. A person of wealth, influence, and prominence, especially someone who has made his fortune in the Orient: Most people have not been sorry that some of the nabobs of Wall Street have suffered financial losses during these economic times.

Nabob has come to mean a person who has an idle, profligate, or extravagant way of life and who gets whatever he or she wants because he or she is disgustingly wealthy."