Jason Gould was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him one of the wealthiest men of the late nineteenth century. Gould was an unpopular figure during his life and remains controversial.

The Gould family is a wealthy American family that came to prominence in the late 19th century. The family's fortune was primarily earned through a railroad empire built by Jason "Jay" Gould, a notorious "robber baron" during the Gilded Age. At its height, this network comprised the Denver & Rio Grande, Missouri Pacific, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Wabash, Texas Pacific, Western Maryland and International-Great Northern railroads among others.