10 All Time Richest People

Here are the 10 all time richest people in the world.


In these times, landing on a ‘richest’ list requires billions of dollars. However, in terms of relative values and economic influence, the current title-holders don’t necessarily outrank the movers and shakers who came before them.
Those factors considered, here are 10 of the richest people throughout history.
Number 10. Genghis Khan. Though the Mongolian leader didn’t have an enormous personal fortune, he did lay claims to a lot of other people’s stuff. Genghis was generous when distributing the spoils among his commanders and soldiers, something that garnered him a great deal of loyalty and sway. 
Number 9. Bill Gates. His personal worth is estimated to be roughly $80 billion, and he regularly appears very high on lists of richest living humans. Gates is also consistently named as being one of the most philanthropic people on Earth. He and his wife Melinda have donated an estimated $30 billion throughout their lifetimes. 
Number 8. Alan Rufus. Some know him better as Alan the Red. Either way, the man greatly aided William the Conqueror in 1066 during the Battle of Hastings and was rewarded with lots of land. When he died, Rufus had a worth of £11,000. Considering that was about 7% of England’s GDP, that somewhat paltry-sounding sum is, in today’s money, actually close to $194 billion. 
Number 7. John D. Rockefeller. When he was a young man his goal was to live to a hundred and have $100,000. Well, he fell just a bit short of his longevity goal, but far exceeded his financial aspirations. In 1918, he was valued at $1.5 billion. Using the measure of US economic output percentage that translates into a contemporary times amount of $341 billion. 
Number 6. Andrew Carnegie. Yes, there was an American richer than Rockefeller, and it was this guy. In 1901, his $480 million fortune was comparable to a tad over 2.1 percent of the United States GDP. For somebody to have his financial clout today, they’d need to come up with $370 billion, give or take. 
Number 5. Joseph Stalin. Having a personal fortune and wielding significant economic influence are not necessarily one and the same. As dictator of the USSR, Stalin was in control of all of the nation’s money – about $7.5 trillion worth by today’s standards. He was known to reward himself lavishly for bearing the burden of so much responsibility. 
Number 4. Akbar I. 16th century India was a great time and place to be in control of an empire. This Mughal dynastic ruler greatly expanded his area of control, and his worth was ultimately representative of 25% of the global GDP. The empire’s riches were on par with those of Elizabethan England, but the upper crust in India far surpassed their European peers when it came to living large.
Number 3. Emperor Shenzong. As the emperor of China’s Song Dynasty in the latter part of the 11th century, this ruler was pretty much in control of what money went where. He had a lot of funds to throw around, as at the time China’s output represented upwards of 30% of the world’s gross domestic product. Not bad for someone who only lived to be 38 years old. 
Number 2. Augustus Caesar. The wealth of the Roman Empire was certainly impressive, but the ruler did just fine for himself as well. All totaled, he was comparatively worth over $4.5 trillion. Notably, for a time Caesar counted the country of Egypt among his personal holdings. 
Number 1. Mansa Musa. The king of Timbuktu in the early 14th century, the leader established the area as a bustling and important center of trade. Also working in his favor was the region’s almost unimaginably lush supply of gold. TIME Magazine’s Money describes Mansa Musa as being, “Richer than anyone could describe.” 
Whose wealth do you find most surprising?