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 [Music] 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 [Music] 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 [Music] 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 [Music] 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 from you if you enjoyed the video feel free to like the video share with friends and subscribe to top trending for more regular countdown videos such as this one [Music]

Channel: Top Trending

Views: 4,901,022

Rating: 4.5514731 out of 5

Keywords: richest people, richest person ever, wealthy, billionaire, trillionaire, richest person in the world, richest person of all time, in history, top 10, forbes, money, king, genghis khan, mansa musa, bill gates, jeff bezos, henry ford, cornelius vanderbilt, john d rockefeller, andrew carnegie

Id: x5rzPgEV-NA

Length: 11min 53sec (713 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 21 2018