Money is the root of all evil.

The Atlantic slave trade was of course all about money.  African Kings in Nigeria and Ghana captured and sold their own people to the Europeans.  It was a key part of the economy of that era.  Amistad ancestors made a huge profit selling slaves.  The Europeans brokered the deals and transported the slaves to the Americas where they were sold  to plantation owners.  The plantations got free labor which enabled the economy of growing cash crops, like cotton.  

War has always been made profitable by those who, without conscience, profited from war.  During the Civil War those known as the Shoddy Millionaires, sold recycled wool uniforms and cardboard shoes to union soldiers.  George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. During the Iraq war Halliburton Corporation made a fortune while overcharging for war contracts.