Warren Buffet is poor. And the richest person ever in the history of the world? This guy:
Mansa Musa I of Mali is the richest human being in history with a personal net worth of $400 billion! Mansa Musa lived from 1280 - 1337 and ruled the Malian Empire which covered modern day Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali in West Africa. Mansa Musa’s shocking wealth came from his country’s vast production of more than half the world’s supply of salt and gold. Musa used his wealth to build immense mosques that still stand today, nearly 700 years later. His kingdom and wealth didn’t last much longer after his death. His heirs were not able to fend off civil war and invading conquerors. Just two generations later, his world record net worth was gone.
Totally made me think of:
Full list for the lazy:
Mansa Musa I, (Ruler of Malian Empire, 1280-1331) $400 billion
Rothschild Family (banking dynasty, 1740- ) $350 billion
John D Rockefeller (industrialist, 1839-1937) $340 billion
Andrew Carnegie (industrialist, 1835-1919) $310 billion
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (last Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918) $300 billion
Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (last ruler of Hyderabad, 1886-1967) $236 billion
William the Conqueror (King of England, 1028-1087) $229.5 billion
I think this is a telling sign of how inaccurate these measures are.
Ghaddafi’s $200B fortune is based only on what ‘we’ were able to FIND in the names of he and his family in the various banks and institutions across the world. There will be tens upon hundreds of billions of dollars of his that were better hidden or placed in private institutions that simply changed the name on the account when he went down.
Moreover, and i think we’ve discussed this before, Putin has had control of a wildly corrupt economy a hundred times bigger, albeit for a shorter period of time, and will have untold amounts of wealth stowed away in various places. probably much better managed than Ghaddafi’s if they were able to find that much of it so quickly.
i have a feeling there are a number of private fortunes that would be on that list if known. In fact, i bet a number of those fortunes still do exist in various forms still today
I didn’t click the link, I was afraid I’d get infected up in here.
After a certain level of baller who the fuck cares what you’re worth in dollars anyhow. I’m sure things shift and it becomes about control & power, since that’s what money technically represents anyhow.
Richest people in history. Fascinating concept. At certain wealth levels power and money sort of merge into the same thing. I.E. my pharaoh’s comment. If you define wealth as purchasing power, then when you’ve got the people convinced you’re a god your purchasing power is infinite, limited only by what humans are capable of producing.
