The richest passenger aboard the Titanic was John Jacob Astor IV, an American businessman with an estimated net worth of around $87 million, which would be equivalent to nearly $2.7 billion in today's currency. Astor was accompanied on the voyage by his 19-year-old pregnant wife, Madeleine, after their vacation in Egypt and Europe. Tragically, John Jacob Astor IV did not survive the sinking of the Titanic, but his wife was able to board one of the lifeboats and was later rescued by the RMS Carpathia.