The world is rapidly filling with new ideas and
rich people every day. As more and more money becomes available on the markets,
more people are creating new and innovative ideas so that they can stockpile
all that wealth for themselves. Wealthy celebrities are constantly in the news
all the time, and they are often noted for their frugality and attention to
detail—in fact, this is usually what helped them amass their wealth in the
first place. But who was frugal and business-oriented enough to make it to the
top; building wealth for years to come? Here are the
5 richest people of all
time and the risks they took in order to rise to the top as successful business
tycoons:
Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa was a man from Mali who possessed approximately $400 billion. He ruled the majority of Western Africa from 1280 to 1337. So how does an African king amass a royal sum of money and effectively make himself the richest man in the world? Well, Musa built all of his wealth by producing salt and gold throughout the Malian empire then buying and selling it. Once he earned all of his wealth, he spent it on building mosques throughout the empire, and these are still in existence today.
The Rothschilds
As a family, the Rothschilds are the second richest people in the world. Many of their descendants are still alive today, and this wealthy family is believed to control much of the real estate and investments that are currently on the market. In fact, all of their money pooled together totals approximately $350 billion, and their wealth has given them great power. Thus, the Rothschilds are held in high regard all across the world.
John D. Rockefeller
Of course, no one can forget John D. Rockefeller. His net worth is approximately $340 billion, and while he is not the richest man in the world, he is indeed the richest man in America. Rockefeller developed the company known as Standard Oil, and this company was a powerful force among most of the American oil companies for many years. However, because Rockefeller monopolized the vast majority of the oil industry at that time, the U.S. government broke up Standard Oil into many of the much smaller companies we know today: Exxon Mobil, Chevron Conoco, and others.
Andrew Carnegie
The 4th richest man who ever lived is Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie had a powerful steel company, and he sold this company to JP Morgan in 1901. The revenue from this bid was $480 million. Today, that amount would be worth an approximate $310 billion. He also received millions of dollars in gold bonds and numerous other investments, allowing the funds to collect interest over time. Most of his money was given to numerous charities pending his retirement. After his death, he still had $30 million belonging to his estate, but this was eventually donated to charity as well, and most of the charities that have been donated to still bear his name.
Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov
One of the most prominent leaders of Russia, Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov owned approximately $900 million, and these were largely from assets he had amassed as the ruler of the Russian empire. His family had been very wealthy, so naturally, Romanov was born into money. Today, his meager $900 million would easily be worth $300 billion. He was also canonized as a saint after he was brutally murdered by revolutionists in his area.
The wealth of the 5 richest people of all time is truly astounding and marvelously inspiring.
Author Bio:
Paula
Smith is a career coach and guest author at GraduateDegreeProgram.net, where
she has contributed to guides to top-ranked online graduate degree programs.