TOP 10 RICHEST PEOPLE OF ALL TIME

#10 – Cornelius Vanderbilt ($185 Billion)

      When America officially became a country in 1776, it was pretty difficult to get goods across the new nation if there wasn’t water to take a boat on. Cornelius Vanderbilt got into the water transporting business, but it was his unique (at the time) railroad business that made him one of the wealthiest people of all-time.

Cornelius didn’t start out very wealthy, and dropped out of school at 11 years old to help on his dad’s ferry. Five years later, he opened his own ferry business. The Vanderbilts were a bit odd, which was evident when Cornelius married his first cousin, Sophia and had 13 children with her. The Vanderbilt name is still relevant as he was the founder of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. You may remember it as the school with the football team that gets beat by everyone.

#9 – Henry Ford ($199 Billion)

         Detroit may get picked on a lot right now for being a dump in most areas and having a rough economy. But, there was a time when Detroit was really thriving and it was all thanks to Henry Ford. Nobody was driving cars at the turn of the century, but Henry Ford took a risk and started the Ford Motor Company, which is still in business today (after a few close calls).

         There weren’t any other players in the American auto industry at the time when Ford started his company, so he had an early monopoly. Name recognition and a lack of foreign cars in the United States made Ford insanely rich. The family is still rich, and the youngest grandson of Henry Ford once owned the Detroit Lions.

#8 – Muammar Gaddafi ($200 Billion)

     You may remember Muammar Gaddafi from a few years ago as the highly controversial leader of Libya. He held the title for 42 years after taking the power for himself in a coup d’etat, until the bloody Libyan Civil War of 2011. When Gaddafi started, he used ideals from the socialist regime but quickly started playing by his own rules.

       After making pretty much everyone in the world hate him, Gaddafi was caught in a crossfire during the Civil War. The rebels were quick to catch up to him, and they beat him bloody and left him for dead. Gaddafi had a lot of money at the time of his death, but since it was blood money, it probably shouldn’t count all that much.

#7 – William The Conqueror ($229.6 Billion)

#6 – Mir Osman Ali Khan ($230 Billion)

    Mir Osman Ali Khan was the final Nizam in the history of Hyderabad and Berar. The reason his reign came to an end was because India annexed Hyderabad and he lost most of his power in the region. Before that, Ali Khan held a tremendous amount of wealth in his position due to his long history of royal family.

   It was a bit of a sad ending for Ali Khan, who was worth around $1 billion at the time of his death. Legal disputes among the family split the money in about 100 different directions, but he was still incredibly wealthy. It just goes to show you that every family fights over money at some point, no matter how much of it there is.

#5 – Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov ($300 Billion)

  Nicholas II was the final Emperor in the history of Russia. The Romanovs had a good run, but it had to come to an end at some point. Nicholas II earned the titles of Grand Duke Of Finland and King Of Poland. It was much easier just to call him a czar (or tsar, however you prefer). He wasn’t really the nicest guy in the world, either.

     Nicholas II was forced out of office in 1917 after Russia went from the world’s most thriving empire to a complete train wreck in their economy and military. He also was quite fond of war, which could no longer be supported after losing money. When Nicholas II started, though, there was a lot of wealth to his name. He still makes the top 5, despite the fact that he probably finished well outside of the top 100

#4 – Andrew Carnegie ($310 Billion)

      Moving from Scotland to the United States was the best thing the Carnegies could have done for their son, Andrew. Andrew Carnegie saved up his money from working as a telegrapher and used it to invest in railroads and oil, which ended up being a pretty smart move.

       Using his new-found great wealth, Carnegie started his own business in the steel industry, which was another fantastic idea at the time (this was a smart man). 18 years before Carnegie’s death, he sold his steel company for $13.6 billion in today’s money and went on to expand his name into colleges, a concert venue, a museum and much more. His name is still thrown around quite a bit in New York.

#3 – John D. Rockefeller ($340 Billion)

       Americans did not use much oil until the invention of the automobile. After that, it was open season. Before the automobile, though, John D. Rockefeller founded the largest oil company (Standard Oil) which essentially ran a monopoly in the United States thanks to the railroad industry. It was still big business as Rockefeller owned 90 percent of America’s oil.

     Colleges are also a great way to make money and Rockefeller started three of them from the ground up (University of Chicago, Rockefeller University, Central Philippine University). If only he were getting today’s tuition rates, he may be at the top of this list. The Rockefeller name can still be seen plastered on buildings across the country, as he owned pretty much everything as the richest man in the world during his time.

#2 – The Rothschild Family ($350 Billion)

     The Rothschild Family started out with Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who got into the banking business in Frankfurt during the late 1700’s. Mayer spread his wealth among his five children, which took off from there as they all got into the business. Many of the Rothschilds became so successful that they became Austrian nobles.

    Banks started popping up left and right under the Rothschild name and at one point, Lord Nathan Rothschild had more power than even the royals in Great Britain. The family went on hiatus for nearly 90 years and started business back up in 1989. Just like Michael Jordan, the great ones always come back sooner or later.

#1 – Mansa Musa I ($400 Billion)

      Musa I was the Mansa (essentially the emperor) of Mali for 25 years in the 1300’s. The Mali Empire had a vast amount of wealth at the time, and Musa I was the largest benefactor in the line. The family had just about every valuable asset in their region of the world for a very long time, so Musa I pretty much controlled everything.

Mansa wasn’t the only title he had, as Musa I ended up with over a dozen titles. There obviously are no pictures of Musa I around, but paintings usually depict him with something very valuable in his hand (such as gold). Musa I constructed an empire, and in turn, made himself the wealthiest man to ever live. It’s just too bad not many people know who he is. History has a way of forgetting about everyone, I suppose.