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The businessman is defined by his obsession with ownership and wealth. He is so fixated on counting and recounting his stars that he does "not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival." Though the stars are his prized possessions, he cannot even remember what they are called. Saint-Exupéry therefore uses the stars and the businessman to symbolize materialism, and to criticize the adult world. He describes stars as "little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming," signifying that adults often lose touch with childlike wonder and imagination. Instead, they value only what is quantifiable and tangible.
The businessman cannot understand the beauty of stars or the meaning they hold in peoples' lives; he is consumed only with accumulating wealth and ownership. Like the drunkard, the businessman leads a cyclical life. He wants to own stars so that he can amass great wealth and purchase more. But wealth, no matter its quantity, cannot infuse a life with happiness or substance. Saint-Exupéry suggests that this fundamental truth is instinctively known by children but later forgotten by adults.
The businessman is the first figure the little prince directly opposes. The prince argues that he too owns things, such as his rose and his volcanoes. Though these possessions do not make him rich, they fill his life with meaning and purpose. In contrast, the businessman lives an absurd life, entirely devoid of substance. He therefore embodies Saint-Exupéry's harshest critique of the adult world. In his immense greed, the businessman loses sight of what it means to be human. He organizes his life around something futile, forgetting the things that make life beautiful. As the little prince explains to the narrator, the businessman "has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved anyone." Having strayed too far from his childlike wonder, he can no longer discern what is truly important.
