The richest person who ever lived had unimaginable wealth. Inside the world's wealthiest. (2024)

FAQs

The richest person who ever lived had unimaginable wealth. Inside the world's wealthiest.? ›

Who was the richest person ever? The richest person ever is thought to have been an emperor with an accumulation of wealth often described as “unimaginable” or “incalculable.” The title goes to 14th-century African emperor Mansa Musa, and his wealth has been estimated to be the modern day equivalent of $400 billion.

Musa was born in 1280 AD into a family of rulers and came to power in 1312 AD. He had so much wealth that experts describe it as incalculable, or unimaginable. His wealth is estimated to be equivalent to modern day $400 billion. According to BBC, Musa and his empire owned almost half of the old world's gold.

Wealth. Mansa Musa is renowned for his wealth and generosity. Online articles in the 21st century have claimed that Mansa Musa was the richest person of all time. Historians such as Hadrien Collet have argued that Musa's wealth is impossible to accurately calculate.

Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, is the richest person and the richest man in the world with a net worth of $207 billion. After Arnault is Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla and founder and CEO of SpaceX.

"Of the 21 individuals who stand a chance of reaching this phenomenal milestone in their lifetime, Elon Musk is predicted to be the first," said CEO Magazine. This prediction was reiterated by The Guardian, The Economic Times and many others.

Mansa Musa, the king of Timbuktu, is often referred to as the wealthiest person in history. According to Ferrum College history professor Richard Smith, Musa's west African kingdom was likely the largest producer of gold in the world—at a time which gold was in especially high demand.

Clemente Del Vecchio

Clemente was at one time the world's youngest billionaire (at the age of 18), but he has since aged out of that title, which is now held by Livia Voigt.

1. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. With an eye-watering net worth of $99 billion, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, a French businesswoman and philanthropist, is the richest woman in the world.

Who is the richest man in the world? As of May 1, 2024, the richest person in the world is Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods group LVMH; he's worth nearly $209 billion. He moved into the number one spot in late January 2024, overtaking Elon Musk.

Who is the richest person alive and how much money do they have? ›

1. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge: Topping the list with a colossal estimated net worth of $5 billion is the royal gem. As the second child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, her inheritance includes vast land holdings, priceless art collections, and future access to the Crown Estate.

As of 2022, a majority of the world's billionaires had earned their wealth themselves. Nearly 2,000 of the total 3,194 billionaires worldwide that year had earned their fortune this way. Meanwhile, 317 billionaires had inherited their wealth.

Think about the wealth Elon Musk owns now, then add a couple hundred billion, and you will get close to Mansa Musa's fortune in the 14th century. Economists estimate that the West African emperor possessed riches equal to almost 400 billion US dollars.

The Rockefeller family is 200 members strong and has a cumulative net worth of $10.3 billion, according to Forbes. The wealthiest and most prominent family member of this century, David Rockefeller, was the world's oldest billionaire at 101 years old, with a net worth of $3.3 billion when he died in 2017.

But in 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which led to the breakup of Standard Oil after the turn of the century. Rockefeller's net worth peaked at about $900 million in 1913, or almost $15 billion in today's dollars.