While we’d all like to be rich someday, I bet no one expects to make anything above a million, much less several billions of dollars. Whether it’s George Lucas’ $4.1 billion or Henry Ford’s $144 billion dollar industry, these are the richest people who ever lived. Read on to see who made the most…
Jakob Fugger
The 1500’s German merchant made his money in mining and expanding family assets. The Fugger family, at one point, had a monopolistic hold on copper in Europe. Today, he’d be worth $400 billion.
Fugger’s Legacy
All of the amassed fortunes, as is tradition, stayed in the family. Jakob left his nephew Anton 2,032,652 guilders (German currency prior to the Euro). He is remembered as “Fugger the Rich”.
Andrew Carnegie
By founding the Carnegie Steel Company, Andrew Carnegie sealed his fate as one of the richest men who would ever live. He made about $310 billion by today’s standards, Steel was the first billion-dollar company in the world!
Carnegie’s Legacy
In the years prior to his death, Carnegie donated a large sum of his $475 million dollars net worth. At his death, he was worth only 30 million. His money accounted for .6% of the US GDP.
Henry Ford
The founder of Ford Motors was worth about $200 billion when he was creating and manufacturing the vehicle of the future. He also invented the assembly line technique.
Ford’s Legacy
He was massively successful but endured a long legal battle with the Dodge brothers. He hit a monetary peak at age 57 and died at age 87 with a net worth of $188.1 billion.
John D. Rockefeller
The name might sound familiar, maybe because Rockefeller is the richest man in US history. Born in upstate New York, this tycoon made $409 billion in the oil industry.
Rockefeller’s Legacy
Rockefeller is remembered as both a hero and a villain, as he donated large sums of his wealth to schools and charities, but still held more money than anyone alive at the time and more than most in the years since.
Nicholas II of Russia
He reigned as the Emporer of all of Russia during the late 1800s but amassed somewhere between $250 and $300 billion dollars during his reign. However, most of his wealth was controlled by the State as the property of the Crown.
Nicholas II’s Legacy
As a salary, Nicholas only received 24 million roubles, which was used to fund the day to day of his position. This included staff, upkeep, and annuities. He died with a personal wealth of between 12.5 million and 17.5 million roubles.
Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII
During his lifetime of 1886-1967, Osman was considered the richest man alive. He was even pictured on Time magazine in 1937. He earned about $210 billion in his lifetime.
Khan’s Legacy
The primary source of Khan’s wealth came from the mining of diamonds in Golconda. This location was the only supplier of diamonds at the time, making it a very lucrative business.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
The US magnate made his money in railroads and shipping. Most notably, he created the New York Central Railroad and donated to the start of Vanderbilt University. His $205 billion dollar fortune would be the beginning of a wealthy legacy.
Cornelius’ Legacy
Cornelius donated a million dollars to Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire to found Vanderbilt University. At that point in history, that was the largest donation to ever be made.
John Jacob Astor
Astor was the first multimillionaire in the United States, with an accumulated wealth of $120 billion (by today’s standards). He made his money in business, fur trade, investing, and opium smuggling.
Astor’s Legacy
Astor’s wife, Sarah Cox Todd, was a lower class but had a frugal and business-centered mind. He often said that his wife was smarter than many men he worked with, and she greatly helped build his empire and bore him several children to carry on the rich legacy.
Stephen Girard
French-born banker Girard lived from 1750 to 1831. Thanks to his 21st century wealthy of $120 billion, he single-handedly saved America from the financial collapse at the end of the War of 1812.
Girard’s Legacy
Though he never had any children, Girard donated a large amount of his money to the education and welfare of orphans. He is largely celebrated in his home of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
William Henry Vanderbilt
A large amount of Williams money came from his wildly successful and famously rich Vanderbilt patriarch, Cornelius Vanderbilt. He managed to double his father’s fortune, estimated to currently be worth between $52-$239 billion.
William’s Legacy
Continuing his father’s legacy, William passed on his fortune to his children, mostly to Cornelius II and William. He greatly contributed to schools like New York University and Columbia University and helped fund the opening of the Metropolitan Opera.
Muammar Gaddafi
This Libyan ruler accumulated about $200 billion in his 42-year reign over the country. The controversial politician was overthrown and subsequently killed by revolutionaries during the 2011 Libyan civil war.
William the Conquerer
Estimated to be worth $229 billion by today’s numbers, this former king of England reigned from 1066 to 1087. He was also known as William the Bastard and might be descended from Vikings.
Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov
Valued at $300 billion today, this Tsar was the last Emporer in Russia before the fall of the Russian Revolution. He was executed in 1918 and was given sainthood in the Russian Orthodox Church, making him the richest saint who ever lived.
Mansa Musa
The richest man who ever lived, in all of human history, was Mansa Musa. He ruled the Mali empire and had about $400 billion in the bank. He was born in 1280 and died in 1337.
Jeff Bezos
If you’ve ordered anything online, chances are you contributed to Bezos’ impressive $161 billion dollar fortune. The creator of Amazon made an online marketplace that has made him the current richest man alive.
Warren Buffet
The finance king of Berkshire Hathaway is worth an estimated $89.9 billion. He has promised to donate at least half of his entire fortune by the end of his lifetime.
Rupert Murdoch
The owner of Fox News made his $21.4 billion in the media industry. He formed News Ltd. and became a media tycoon.
Bill Gates
No rich list is complete without the inventor of Microsoft, Bill Gates. Now worth $100.8 billion, the PC founder donates a lot of his time (and more importantly, money) to causes like human rights and improving the quality of life for women and children worldwide.
Sergey Brin
Sergey is the co-founder of Google along with Larry Page, and as a result, has earned a couple billion in the bank. Specifically, $50 billion dollars. He makes, by request, $1 a year.
Mark Zuckerberg
Whether you know him from founding Facebook or from the movie about him, Mark Zuckerberg is a household name. The young tycoon has about $73.6 billion in the bank.
Charles & David Koch
Their combined wealth comes out to $98 billion, money made in the oil and gas industry. Fred Koch developed a new way to refine oil into gas, and the brothers engaged in a legal battle to win the rights.
Steve Ballmer
When Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft, Ballmer stepped in. He’s now worth $45.3 billion and bought the LA Clippers for $2 billion in 2014. He was a college dropout when Gates hired him 18 years prior.
A.T Stewart
Also known as Alexandra Turney Stewart, the Ireland immigrant started a dry goods business that turned into manufacturing. His business expanded and his net worth today would be $90 billion.
Marshall Field
Marshall Field & Co. was a wildly successful retail store that earned it’s founder a modern amount of $66 billion. His business had a reputation for high-end products and good customer service.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Steve Jobs made billions of dollars ($21.4 billion, to be exact), but his wife was also very intelligent. She graduated from Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania. She donates a lot of her late husband’s money towards sustainability efforts and poverty reduction.
Augustus Caesar
The conquerer, born 27 BC and died 14 AD, would be worth $4.63 trillion today. This is due to his economic power hold over Egypt and Rome.
Moses Taylor
The Citibank founder would be worth $1.8 billion today. He also owned a lot of the Delaware Railroad and shipping ventures.
Mark Cuban
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Cuban is worth almost $4.1 billion dollars. His technology business was sold $5.7 billion, some of which he spent buying the Dallas Mavericks.
King Solomon of Israel
Though the only source of information for this man is in the Bible, it’s said he ruled from 970 to 931 BC. During this time, he reportedly earned 25 tons of gold every year for 39 years, which would make him worth $2.2 trillion today.
Elon Musk
The founder of Tesla, better known for his mission to Mars and co-founding PayPal, is worth $18.2 billion dollars. He is deeply interested in travel technology.
Bernard Arnault
Bernard, a French art collector and business magnate, is currently worth around $76 billion dollars. He is the richest person in the fashion industry and donated $200 million to the repair of the Notre Dame Cathedral after a fire.
Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim is a Mexican businessman, engineer, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the richest person in Latin America with a net worth of $63.1 billion.
Amancio Ortega
With a net worth $70 billion, the founder of Zara is the second wealthiest person in Europe. He is famously private and has only been interviewed three times.
Larry Ellison
With a fortune of $66.1 billion, Ellison is the fourth wealthiest person in the United States and seventh in the world. He enjoys yachts and yacht racing but has pledged to give half of his wealth to charity before his death.
Larry Page
The co-founder of Google is, not shockingly, worth quite a lot. He is worth $51.1 billion. He also donated $15 million to the Ebola crisis, $20 million to nerve function research, and more.
Emporer Shenzong of Song
This Chinese ruler of 20 years from 1067 to 1085 would be worth $30 trillion if he were alive today. He is best remembered for the efforts made to improve the lives of the poor during the time.
Steven Spielberg
The Jurassic Park director is worth about $3.7 billion. He’s also directed Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, and the entire Indiana Jones franchise.
Alan Rufus
Though he lived back in 1093, the 1st Lord of Richmond would be worth about $195 billion dollars today. He made his money from a gift of William the Conquerer.
George Lucas
The Star Wars mastermind is worth an estimated $6.4 billion. He has donated a large sum of his fortune towards childhood education.
Jay Gould
Jay Gould, worth $71 billion in modern times, was one of the original robber barons (men who stopped at nothing to secure a lot of money). He focused on developing railroads for the West and Midwest.
Stephen Van Rensselaer
Born in 1764, Van Rensselaer made money in the real estate business. His land took up a large portion of New York.
Heshen
Born in 1750, the administrator of the Quin Dynasty stole tax revenue from the people of China. He stockpiled a personal fortune of around $132 billion by today’s standards.
William de Warrenne
A peak net worth of a modern $146 billion, the 1st Earl of Surrey was also a real estate mogul. He owned land in about 13 English counties in 1086.
Akbar I
The peak net worth of Akbar I would be $21 trillion today. He conquered hundreds of miles of the Mughal Empire, an Indian subcontinent, for almost 50 years.
Genghis Khan
This conquerer would be worth record-breaking numbers today, over hundreds of trillions of dollars. He pillaged throughout Asia and Europe and took the loot for his people.
Marcus Licinius Crassus
With adjusted value, Marcus would be worth $20 billion today. He inherited 7 million sesterces from his late father and expanded that to 170 million.
Croesus
The historical king of Lydia was known for being ridiculously wealthy, but there’s no way to know how much he had. For now, his riches remain a mystery.
Richard FitzAlan
An English nobleman, 10th Earl of Arundel and 8th Earl of Surrey, the military leader would be worth billions today.
John of Gaunt
There’s no way of knowing how much money John of Gaunt would be worth today, but he was remembered for his ostentatious display of wealth. Most of his wealth was acquired through inheritance and marriage.
Basil II
This Byzantine Emporer ruled from 960 to 1025. He is often honored for the prosperity of the Empire at the time.