These are the top 10 all-time richest people in history on the basis of their peak time wealth in present-day value.
10 –Â MUAMMAR AL GADHAFIÂ – $200 Billion
Muammar Gaddafi was a revolutionary leader and politician who took control of the reins of the country for 42 years. In his four decades of being in power, he brought several changes in the Libyan government, first serving as the Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and later switching to serve as the ‘Brother Leader’ of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. He adopted various beliefs, first as Arab nationalist to supporting Arab socialist and finally his own ideology of Third International Theory. It is interesting to note that despite coming from a poor and underprivileged family, he showed traits of being a revolutionary since an early age. He created a revolutionary cell in the military which assisted in seizing power from King Idris in a bloodless coup. Over his years of dictatorship, he condemned international relations with western countries and broke diplomatic ties with several others thereby establishing a reputation of Libya as an ‘international pariah’. It was due to his increased dominance, his support for international terrorism and violation of human rights of Libyan citizens that led to a mass revolt which eventually resulted in the formation of National Transitional Council, the dethronement and finally the end of Gaddafi.
09 –Â WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR – $229 Billion
William of Normandy, known as ‘the Conqueror’, was born at Falaise in 1027, a natural son of Robert, Duke of Normandy and a girl called Herleve. He invaded England and defeated King Harold II at the battle of Hastings on 14th October 1066 (the English army had defeated an invading Norwegian force in the north of England in late September and the exhausted army had to march immediately south to meet William’s forces). His reign is remembered for the compilation of the Domesday Book in 1086, recording names of all landowners and tenants in England, and for the building of many castles, notably the Tower of London.
08 – MIR OSMAN ALI KHAN – $230 Billion
Mir Osman Ali Khan was the ruler of Hyderabad which has an estimated net worth of $230 billion.
Mir Osman Ali Khan succeeded as Nizam of Hyderabad upon the death of his father in 1911. He was the absolute ruler of the principality.
During his 37-year reign as Nizam, the development of electricity, railways, roads and airways in Hyderabad evolved, the Nizamsagar lake in the state was excavated and some irrigation projects on the Tungabhadra river were undertaken.
Nizam’s budget focused on education. He donated to a lot of educational institution such as Jamia Nizamia, the Darul Uloom Deoband, Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University.
In 1941, he established his own bank, the Hyderabad State Bank wherein the currency of the state called Osmania Sikka.
07 – NICHOLAS II OF RUSSIA – $300 Billion
Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia under Romanov rule. He was born on May 6, 1868 (from the Julian calendar, which was used in Russia until 1918) in Pushkin, Russia. He inherited the throne when his father, Alexander III, died in 1894. Although he believed in an autocracy, he was eventually forced to create an elected legislature. Nicholas II’s handling of Bloody Sunday and World War I incensed his subjects and led to his abdication. Bolsheviks executed him and his family on the night of July 16-17, 1918, in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
06 –Â ANDREW CARNEGIE – $310 Billion
Scottish-born Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was an American industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry then became a major philanthropist. Carnegie worked in a Pittsburgh cotton factory as a boy before rising to the position of division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1859. While working for the railroad, he invested in various ventures, including iron and oil companies, and made his first fortune by the time he was in his early 30s. In the early 1870s, he entered the steel business, and over the next two decades became a dominant force in the industry.
05 – JHON D ROCKEFELLER – $340 Billion
John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), the founder of the Standard Oil Company, became one of the world’s wealthiest men and a major philanthropist. Born into modest circumstances in upstate New York, he entered the then-fledgeling oil business in 1863 by investing in a Cleveland, Ohio, refinery. In 1870, he established Standard Oil, which by the early 1880s controlled some 90 per cent of U.S. refineries and pipelines.
04 –Â THE ROTHSCHILD FAMILYÂ – $350 Billion
The Rothschild family is a wealthy Jewish family descending from Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, who established his banking business in the 1760s. Unlike most previous court factors, Rothschild managed to bequeath his wealth and established an international banking family through his five sons, who established themselves in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, and Naples. The family was elevated to noble rank in the Holy Roman Empire and the United Kingdom.
During the 19th century, the Rothschild family possessed the largest private fortune in the world, as well as in modern world history. The family’s wealth was divided among various descendants, and today their interests cover a diverse range of fields, including financial services, real estate, mining, energy, mixed farming, winemaking and nonprofits.
03 – MANSA MUSA – $400 Billion
Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Malian Empire which has an estimated net worth of $400 billion.
Mansa Musa is the tenth Mansa. He is known for other names such as Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, and Conqueror of Ghanata, Futa-Jallon.
He came to the throne by appointing a deputy. The reason why the King appointed Musa as his deputy because he did an expedition to the Atlantic Ocean.
When Musa embarked himself to a journey, aside from his own religious fulfilment, but he also recruited leaders and teachers so that his people must learn more about the teachings of the Prophet.
He is known as a devoted Muslim. His pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 was known across northern Africa and the Middle East.
02 – AKBAR THE GREATÂ – $21 Trillion
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, more famously known as Akbar the Great, was the third emperor of the Mughal Empire, after Babur and Humayun. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun and succeeded him as the emperor in the year 1556, at the tender age of just 13. Succeeding his father Humayun at a critical stage, he slowly enlarged the extent of the Mughal Empire to include almost all of the Indian sub-continent. He extended his power and influence over the entire country due to his military, political, cultural, and economic dominance. He established a centralised system of administration and adopted a policy of marriage alliance and diplomacy. With his religious policies, he won the support of his non-Muslim subjects as well. He was one of the greatest emperors of the Mughal dynasty and extended his patronage to art and culture. Being fond of literature, he extended support to literature in several languages.
01 – GENGHISÂ KHAN – 100s of Trillions of Dollars
Genghis Khan owned the largest empire in history. At one point, the Mongol Empire controlled over 12,741,371 square miles of land, which meant that Khan was worth a lot of dough.
However, despite this, he insisted on nothing luxurious – and his generosity brought a lot to his influence over the people of his empire.
When he died, he was wrapped in felt and buried just like any other man at that time.
Another interesting fact about Genghis Khan is that still to this day there are over 16 million direct descendants of his. Woah!
