A magnate is a wealthy and powerful person who owns multiple businesses or properties of a certain kind.
A magnet is a piece of rock or metal, or a machine, which produces a magnetic field—the natural force that causes some metals to be attracted or repelled by each other, the force known as magnetism.
When we talk about magnates, we usually specify what kind—such as an oil magnate, a real-estate magnate, or a newspaper magnate. Only people who both own things and possess power in these industries are called magnates (magnate literally means “great one”).
The only magnets most people see in their daily lives are refrigerator magnets; however, there are electro-magnets in many machines in our lives, all around us. They are useful in the transformation of electrical energy from a source, such as a battery, into the physical movement of a switch, or the ringing of a bell.