Who is the richest person in the universe
Top 15 RICHEST People In History
every year we see lists of the richest
people in the world usually businessmen
who own shares in large companies that
they found it but have you ever wondered
what an all-time list of the richest
people might look like if you were to
include all the Emperor's and pioneers
and conquerors together with the
investors and Technology geeks of today
is it as indeed challenging to compare
wealth across eras and geographies but
it's a test that has been attempted by
leading historians and economists and
adjusted for inflation in today's
episode of top trending we bring to you
this list of the top 15 richest people
in history at number 15 on our list is
Henry Ford the captain of the American
car industry and the business magnate
who has made mass production of
automobiles possible the Ford Motor
Company founded by him made cars that
were for the first time affordable to
the middle class
converting them into the practical mode
of conveyance and revolutionising
transportation and as the owner of the
company Henry Ford became one of the
richest and most famous people in the
world when he died his net worth was
over two hundred billion dollars in
today's terms and most of this was left
at the Ford Foundation
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a story of rags to riches Cornelius
Vanderbilt made his fortune in the
railroad and shipping business in 19th
century America he used to work with his
father who operated a cargo boat between
Staten Island and Manhattan and New York
in the 1820s he started his own
steamship business operating in New York
and in the 1850s he entered the railroad
business he was known for his shrewd and
aggressive business style at the peak of
his wealth he would have been worth two
hundred two billion dollars in today's
money unlike later business magnates he
did not set up a foundation or give much
to charity other than a million-dollar
seed money to establish the Vanderbilt
University in Nashville Tennessee the
family no longer controls any businesses
and the fortune amassed by Cornelius
Vanderbilt is no longer in the family
Libyan revolutionary and political
leader of more than 42 years Muammar
Gaddafi is rumored to have been worth
200 billion dollars at the time of his
violent overthrow and death in 2011
which is over two hundred twelve billion
dollars in today's terms during his
decades-long reign he had as good as
private control over Libya's rich oil
fields and their earnings this wealth
was secretive way in several bank
accounts real estate and other
investments around the world at the
beginning of the Libyan conflict the US
government found thirty seven billion
dollars in the United States thirty
billion dollars was found in assets
across UK Germany France and Italy even
today it is believed that much of the
cash stashed away by him remains unfound
and number twelve on our list is William
the Conqueror the first Norman King of
England ruling from 1066 after defeating
King Harald in the Battle of Hastings
son of the Duke of Normandy Robert the
first and a mistress named her leva he
was also known as William the bastard
he succeeded his father as the Duke of
Normandy and it is said he was promised
the throne of England by King Edward
when Edward declared Harald the King on
his deathbed william declared war the
plunder from the conquest and land grabs
makes William the Conqueror's wealth
estimated at 228 billion dollars in
today's terms
a German merchant mining entrepreneur
and banker from the 16th century Jakob
Fugger amassed huge wealth and power
during his lifetime amounting to 277
billion dollars at the peak of his
fortune the foundation of the wealth was
laid through the textile trade with
Italy but grew manifold with the start
of banking operations with the royal
family of Austria and the administrative
apparatus of the Holy See at one point
he had a monopolistic hold on the copper
trade in Europe with his enormous wealth
Jakob Fugger influenced much of European
history by funding the marriages that
saw the Austrian House of Habsburg gain
control of Spain Bohemia and Hungary and
ensuring the election of Charles the
fifth as the next Holy Roman Emperor on
his death his business and wealth passed
on to his nephew Anton Fuger at number
10 on our list of the richest people in
the world is his exalted highness de
Wahb sameiras manali consider key by
effandi Asaf Java 7
the last Nizam of Hyderabad a princely
state in India that became a part of the
Republic of India in 1948 in 1937 he
featured on the cover of Time magazine
as the richest man in the world his
wealth was masked on mining royalties in
land revenue
dara bod was the only supplier of
diamonds globally in the 18th century
his net worth was estimated at 2 billion
dollars in the early 1940s 2 percent of
the US economy at that time in today's
terms that's about 230 billion dollars
the Jacob diamond a 124 carat diamond
worth more than 40 million dollars was
part of the Nizam's jewelry collection
and used by him as a paperweight
mir osman ali khan was considered a
miser for the way he dressed but almost
all the major public buildings and
institutions in hyderabad were built
during his reign the Osmania University
the General Hospital the High Court the
observatory to name a few
after his era bods accession to India
most of his wealth was taken over by the
Indian government including the Nizam
jewelry collection but even after that
he was still widely considered South
Asia's richest man until his death in
1967 he is said to have fathered 149
children in what remains of his wealth
is now being litigated by an increasing
number of claimants
at number 9 on our list is the last Czar
of Russia Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov
who was worth 300 billion dollars in
today's terms he ruled from 1894 till he
abdicated the throne in 1917 the Romanov
family had ruled Russia for over 300
years and had amassed a lot of wealth
and property in that time only to be
increased by Tsar Nicholas ii the
family's jewelry collection was
estimated to be worth 160 million rubles
Bazar owned multi-millions in the noble
bank and the railroads millions were
transferred to German banks after a
failed revolution the Empress had
collected over 600 diamonds the family
owned villas and palaces in several
European countries and many more
properties in Russia all this wealth was
seized in the Bolshevik Revolution and
the Tsar along with his wife children
and loyal members of staff were murdered
in 1918
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industrialist and philanthropist Andrew
Carnegie was born in Scotland the son of
a hand loom weaver at the age of 13 he
moved to America and worked a series of
telegraph and railroad jobs while still
working he started investing in oil
infrastructure and steel eventually
setting up the Carnegie steel company
vertical integration of raw material
supplies and reduction in costs of steel
production using the Bessemer process
made his business wildly successful
he sold his steel business which
eventually became US Steel Corporation
so as to retire for a whopping 480
million dollars in 1901 at his peak
wealth he was worth 337 billion dollars
in today's money after his retirement he
focused on philanthropy giving away 90
percent of his wealth to different
causes primarily education world peace
libraries and scientific research widely
regarded as the wealthiest Americans of
all time and the richest person in
modern history john d rockefeller had a
peak net worth of about three hundred
sixty seven billion dollars in today's
money he made his money in oil refining
in the Standard Oil trust that he
founded controlled 90% of the supply of
oil in the United States he
revolutionized the American oil industry
through his strategies of integration
transportation and marketing and his
company became so big than in 1911 the
Supreme Court ruled that it was in
violation of antitrust laws and split it
into 34 different companies Rockefeller
received proportionate shares in these
new companies in over the next 10 years
this proved immensely profitable as
their net worth rose fivefold he used
his unprecedented wealth to pioneer the
modern system of philanthropy creating
foundations that even today have a major
impact on medicine education and
scientific research
with an estimated net worth of 415
billion dollars Monta Musa the first
emperor of Mali and King of Timbuktu is
at number 6 on this list he controlled
the Mali Empire and the Ghana Empire and
conquered much of West Africa during his
reign in the 14th century one of his
titles was Lord of the mines and he
owned more than half the world's supply
of gold at a time that there was a
hugely increasing demand for the
commodity and he also controlled key
trade routes between the West African
coast and the Mediterranean he built
schools mosques and even a major
university all of which became his
legacy many years after he died and some
of which are still standing now he's
also known for a fabulous pilgrimage he
once made to Mecca in a caravan
stretching as far as the eye could see
with an entourage of tens of thousands
of people donating and spending so much
money when they stopped in Cairo that it
caused instant inflation and it took
years for the local economy to recover
from the shock
and number five on our list of the
richest people in history is the
biblical legend King Solomon who ruled
Israel for forty years from 370 to 331
BC he is known to have been extremely
wise and fabulously wealthy with the
empire reaching its heights of splendor
during his reign he is said to have
received a yearly tribute of 666 gold
talents which is approximately 86,000
pounds of gold every year this in
addition to his income from taxation and
trade makes his net worth over 2.2
trillion dollars he used his wealth to
create many building projects including
the first temple in Jerusalem which is
known as one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world
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the heir of Julius Caesar Augustus
Caesar was the master of political and
military intrigue and in 27 BC appointed
himself the first emperor of the Roman
Empire this gave him sole control over
Imperial Rome and a personal fortune
equivalent to one-fifth of the entire
economy which made his net worth an
estimated four point six three trillion
dollars he is said to have personally
owned the entire country of Egypt he
established a system that created and
maintained the peace of the Romans for
over 200 years but in his final years he
struggled to find peace troubled by the
death of his beloved grandsons we had
hoped to appoint his heirs as well as
military defeats and a troubled economy
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number three on this list of the richest
people in history is emperor Akbar the
first the ruler of the Mughal Empire
between 1556 and 1605 he was a great
military general and during his reign of
the Mughals expanded their empire to
include almost the entire Indian
subcontinent this made him the
controller of almost 25 percent of the
world's GDP
a staggering 21 trillion dollars in
today's terms Akbar was also an
administrative genius and he was able to
exercise power and influence over this
vast empire because he created a
centralized system of administration
that ensured military political cultural
and economic dominance he lived a lavish
lifestyle establishing for himself in
his family three courts in Delhi Agra
and fatehpur sikri he was also a great
patron of the Arts creating a massive
library as well as funding music
paintings and architecture he even tried
creating his own religion that was a
blend of Islam and Hinduism
at number 2 on our list of the richest
people in history is a Chinese emperor
of the 11th century ad Emperor Shen song
of song yet an estimated net worth of
over 30 trillion dollars ruling over an
estimated 30 percent of the world's GDP
during the peaceful prosperity and
primary abundance eras a new economic
and social program was instituted
including low rate loans to peasants
corrected land surveys to ensure that
tax collections were increased and a
program of purchasing manufactured
specialties in one region and selling
them in another all these contributed
greatly to increasing government
revenues but at the same time the regime
of Emperor Shen song is also credited
with implementing policies to help poor
peasants as well as the unemployed which
is seen as being a forerunner to the
modern welfare state the fearsome
emperor and founder of the Mughal Empire
is at the top of our list of the 15
richest people in history with a net
worth amounting to hundreds of trillions
of dollars between 1206 and 1227 he led
his armies on a brutal assault of all of
his neighboring kingdoms winning all of
his battles in all he conquered over 12
million square miles of territory
controlling most of Central Asia and
China
he usually slaughtered on a large scale
the local inhabitants of the kingdoms
that he conquered and took over all
their wealth and possessions which
combined with the value of the land
makes him by far the richest person in
history that's our list of the top 15
richest people in history do you agree
disagree are there any other people you
think should be on our list let us know
in the comments section we love hearing
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