Even though it seems like the number of millionaires and billionaires keeps growing daily, wealthy people have been a common part of society for as long as society has been around.
Beginning in the 11th century, William the Conqueror, coming in at approximately $230 billion in today’s dollars. Suggested by his name, William the Conqueror attained most of his wealth by conquering and pillaging villages. Another contender for richest man at this time was King Tenkamenin of Ghana, though his gold and natural resources trade was no match for William’s wealth.
The wealthiest city during the 13th century was Florence, Italy, so it makes sense that the wealthiest man would hail from Florence. Filippo di Amedeo de Peruzzi made his fortune banking in the city, but also traded spices, chartered ships, owned hotels, and kept gold as assets. This caused de Peruzzi to attain a net worth of between $100 billion to $200 billion.
The richest person in recorded history is Mansa Musa I, the ruler of the Malian Empire, which covers modern day Ghana and Mali. The Malian Empire had large amounts of gold and salt deposits, making them a very wealthy kingdom in the 14th century. There were many other wealthy people during that time, but Mansa Musa I takes the cake.
Jakob Fugger, a banker in the Holy Roman Empire, funded the reign of Charles V in order for him to become emperor. Because of this favor he did for Charles V, Fugger was given access to the Holy Roman Empire’s mint, which means he could make his own money. Funny enough, he was known as “Jakob the Rich” to those who knew him. Jakob Fugger was estimated to have a net worth of between $60 billion to $275 billion.
Fast forward to the 18th century, Stephen Girard, saved the United States of America from financial ruin during the War of 1812. He owned the bulk of the ships that came into American ports from France, which made him a shipping magnate in that time period. It was estimated that Girard was worth around $105 billion.
It would be remiss to discuss the richest men in history without talking about John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller was worth around $340 billion and made his fortune in the oil business. When he was heading up Standard Oil, Rockefeller was estimated to control around 90 percent of the world’s oil. In the United States, even the mention of the name “Rockefeller” implies a person of great wealth.