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  • Over the past ten years, the number of billionaires worldwide has skyrocketed.

  • During the mid-1990s, the total share of wealth among billionaires was about $1 trillion dollars.

  • But as of 2017, that number has grown by 800%.

  • Today, just 8 people control as much money as the bottom 3.6 billion people on the planet.

  • But in spite of their incredible wealth, not one of those eight comes anywhere close to

  • the richest people in history.

  • So, who holds the title, and how much money did they have?

  • Well, it’s important to note that the value of currency over time is incredibly difficult

  • to calculate, and all the figures we present are rough estimations of modern day currency.

  • Nonetheless, these historical figures were almost undoubtedly the richest of their era,

  • and we can start, most recently, with former dictator, Muammar Qaddafi.

  • As of the start of the 21st century, Ghaddafi had ruled over Libya for four decades, and

  • spent that time consolidating power and wealth.

  • During the Libyan Civil War, which eventually led to his death, Qaddafi was in total control

  • of Libya’s economy, and spent it lavishly on himself.

  • When the United Nations voted to freeze his personal assets, an estimated $130 billion

  • dollars in real estate and financial holdings around the world were seized.

  • Further investigation found that the dictator’s total stashed wealth, all embezzled from the

  • Libyan economy, was closer to $200 billion dollars, making him the richest man in the

  • world at the start of the Libyan Civil War in 2011.

  • This sort of wealth by world leaders is certainly not new.

  • Going back more than 2000 years to Ancient Rome, one of the most commonly referenced

  • richest people ever was Marcus Licinius Crassus.

  • Crassus was a Roman politician who was alleged to have made his fortune through slave trade,

  • silver mines, and real estate.

  • Most notably, Crassus was known to have formed the first fire fighting brigade.

  • But instead of arriving at an ongoing fire, and putting it out, Crassus would negotiate

  • for the sale of the property from the homeowner, as it burned to the ground.

  • Only then would he direct his brigade to put out the fire.

  • He was also known to enslave architects and builders to reconstruct these burnt out homes,

  • which contributed to his massive real estate fortune.

  • Crassus was estimated to control 200 million sesterces, which does not have a direct dollar

  • value, but was roughly the same as the entire Roman treasury’s annual budget.

  • However, modern historical accounts heavily dispute that Crassus was not nearly as rich

  • as his contemporary, Emperor Augustus Caesar.

  • According to Time Magazine and Stanford professor Ian Morris, Augustus’s Roman empire was

  • alleged to control as much as a third of the entire world’s economic output.

  • His personal fortune was believed to be about a fifth of that amount.

  • That’s roughly $4.6 trillion dollars, and included personal ownership over the entire

  • country of Egypt.

  • But neither Qaddafi nor Crassus nor Augustus hold a candle to the richest man who has ever

  • lived.

  • Mansa Musa of Mali has been described as so inconceivably rich that no accurate figure

  • could do justice to his wealth.

  • He ruled Mali during the 14th century, spanning what is today Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia,

  • Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and of course Mali.

  • His extraordinary fortune came from enormous gold reserves on his territory, which he distributed

  • throughout Africa.

  • In particular, one massive pilgrimage he undertook from Mali to Mecca spread his legendary status

  • around the world.

  • Masa’s entourage included hundreds of thousands of soldiers, civilians, and slaves, all carrying

  • literally tons of gold.

  • Allegedly, his generous distribution of gold created financial crises and mass inflation

  • along his pilgrimage, and he singlehandedly urbanized entire cities, building schools

  • and mosques.

  • Simply put, Mansa Musa was so indescribably rich that there is no frame of reference to

  • estimate his wealth, and he ranks historically as the wealthiest person in history, hands

  • down.

  • But while these individuals were known for their fortunes, today, incredible wealth is

  • more often distributed among entire families than singular people.

  • One of the most commonly named wealthiest families in the world is the Rothschild family.

  • Find out just how much money they have, and who they are, by watching this video to the

  • right.

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Over the past ten years, the number of billionaires worldwide has skyrocketed.

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歴史上で最も裕福な人々は誰でしたか? (Who Were The Richest People In History?)

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    Ntiana に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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