List of wealthiest historical figures

Table columns:
Name
Portrait
Lifetime
Net worth (billion 2010 USD)
Description

Table rows:
cells: Jakob Fugger
1459–1525 (66 years)
400[4]
German merchant, mining entrepreneur and banker. He expanded Fugger family's assets by making their operations European wide. At one point, Fugger & family had an almost monopolistic hold on the European copper market.[10] At his death, Jakob Fugger bequeathed to his nephew Anton Fugger company assets totaling 2,032,652 guilders.[11] Referred to as "Fugger the Rich".
cells: John D. Rockefeller
1839–1937 (97 years)
336[3]
On September 29, 1916, Rockefeller became the first person ever to reach a nominal personal fortune of US$1 billion (equivalent to US$16 billion in 2016).[12] Rockefeller amassed his fortune from the Standard Oil company, of which he was a founder, chairman and major shareholder. By the time of his death in 1937, estimates place his net worth in the range of US$300 billion to US$400 billion in adjusted dollars for the late 2000s (decade). When considering the real value of his wealth, Rockefeller is widely held to have been the wealthiest American, as well as the richest person in modern history.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
cells: Andrew Carnegie
1835–1919 (84 years)
310[3]
Carnegie founded the Carnegie Steel Company, which was the most extensive integrated iron and steel operations in the United States; in 1901, Carnegie sold his company for US$480 million to J.P. Morgan, who then merged his company into U.S. Steel.[19] Capitalized at US$1.4 billion at the time, U.S. Steel was the first billion dollar company in the world. In his final years, Carnegie's net worth was US$475 million, but by the time of his death in 1919 he had donated most of his wealth to charities and other philanthropic endeavors and had only US$30 million left to his personal fortune. Carnegie's hundreds of millions accounted for about 0.60% of the U.S. annual GDP and has a real value estimated at about US$75 billion adjusted for the late 2000s (decade).[13][14]
cells: Nicholas II of Russia
1868–1918 (50 years)
250–300
Emperor of All Russia from 1894 to 1917. Estimates of the wealth of Nicholas II remain wildly speculative. As emperor, and an autocrat, the resources under Nicholas II's command were virtually incalculable. However, the vast majority of this was officially owned by the State as Crown property. From this, supplemented by an annuity from the Treasury, he derived an annual income of 24 million roubles, from which he had to fund staff, the upkeep of imperial palaces and imperial theatres, annuities for the royal family, pensions, bequests, and other outgoings.[20] "Before the end of the year, the Tsar was usually penniless; sometimes he reached this embarrassing state by autumn."[20] According to the Grand Marshall of the Court, Count Paul Benckendorff, his personal wealth only amounted to between 12.5 and 17.5 million roubles.[21]
cells: Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII
1886–1967 (81 years)
210
The last Nizam of Hyderabad State in British India. Regarded as the wealthiest person in the world during his lifetime, his portrait was on the cover of Time magazine in 1937.[22] As a semi-autonomous monarch, he had his own mint, printing his own currency, the Hyderabadi rupee, and had a private treasury that was said to contain £100m in gold and silver bullion, and a further £400m of jewels (in 2008 terms). Among them was the Jacob Diamond, valued at some £50m (in 2008 terms),[23][24][25] and used by the Nizam as a paperweight.[26]
cells: Henry Ford
1863–1947 (84 years)
188–199
Henry Ford was an American automotive engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of the Ford Motor Company. Through his designing of the Model T Ford and employing the assembly line means of rapid production, he was able to lower the base price of his product in order to reach a wider market. As production increased, Ford further reduced prices and increased salaries to reduce worker turnover. This resulted in a rapid increase in output, with Ford production rising from roughly 18,000 cars in 1909 to over 1 million cars in 1920. Despite Ford stating that his focus was increasing Ford Motor Company's benefit to society and to its employees, even at one point being sued by the Dodge brothers based on this premise, his company was massively profitable. His highest earnings were recorded at age 57 and he died at the age of 83 in 1947 at a net worth of US$188.1 billion (inflation-adjusted value in 2008 dollars).
cells: John Jacob Astor
1763–1848 (85 years)
120–138[27]
American businessman, merchant, opium smuggler, fur trader, and investor. In 1801, Astor's nominal wealth was some US$250,000, and by the time of his death in 1848 his fortune had grown to US$20 million, making him America's first multi-millionaire.[13][14][15]
cells: Cornelius Vanderbilt
1794–1877 (83 years)
105[28]–205[29]
American business magnate and philanthropist who built his wealth in railroads and shipping.
cells: Stephen Girard
1750–1831 (81 years)
105[30]–120[31]
French-born American banker. Before becoming a banker, he was a merchant and owned a fleet of trading ships.
cells: William Henry Vanderbilt
1821–1885 (64 years)
52–239[32]
Railroad owner. Inherited much of his wealth from his father, Cornelius Vanderbilt,[30] who initiated the Vanderbilt family's involvement in railroad and shipping business. He doubled his father's fortune, to an amount estimated between $52 billion and $239 billion.[32]

Questions about this table:
originalText: who is the richest person in the world who ever lived
answer: answerTexts: Jakob Fugger