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The wealthiest men of all time

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Decebal View Drop Down
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  Quote Decebal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: The wealthiest men of all time
    Posted: 26-Sep-2006 at 17:28

I know that many are sick of the typical "the most" or "the best", but I believe that this is a topic which can lead to some interesting discussions, since the subject discussed can be quantified and is not simply dependent on value judgements. So who were the fabulously rich of the past? I suggest we ignore the 20th century and concentrate instead on rich people of the past 5000 years. We could also take a time-slice approach, thus debating who were the wealthiest people in their own time, as opposed to all-time


I will pencil in some candidates:

Croesus of Lydia: so rich he became proverbial

Alexander the Great: 2,600 talents of gold and 600 talents of silver from Damascus, 50,000 talents of gold and 40,000 talents of uncoined gold and silver from Susa and from Persepolis 120,000 talents of gold. A talent of gold was about $100,000 and a talent of silver was about $12000. Thus, Alexander had about 20 billion dollars in today's money.

the Fugger family-  had amassed a fortune of 5,100,000 guilders a greater sum than the combined value of all 30 companies listed on todays DAX, the German Stock Exchange index.

Aurangzeb - the last rich "Great Moghul" (and the one who squandered it all)... It's not for nothing that the term "mogul" in English today stands for great wealth


 

What is history but a fable agreed upon?
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Giannis View Drop Down
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  Quote Giannis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2006 at 18:11

I don't know if king Midas fullfills the requirements for your list, myth says that everything that he touched became gold, but arcaelogists in the so called ''Midas Tomb'' found only drinking vessels and not from gold, rather plain, but excellent speciments of the Iron Age.

Give me a place to stand and I will move the world.
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  Quote LilLou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2006 at 19:03
I would say marcus linius crassus, he displayed his wealth by entertaining atleat 20,000 people and sufficient grain to support each family in rome for more than 3 months he attacked persia in order to quench his greed for more loot, yet failed and when captured he had hot molten gold poured down his throat to quench his thirst for gold.Ouch
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  Quote Ponce de Leon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2006 at 19:14
rockerfeller. he was made rich. oil is good business bitch!
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  Quote Emperor Barbarossa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2006 at 20:04
Yes, Rockefeller was rich, and a few other rich Americans are Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates, and Cornelius Vanderbilt.

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  Quote Hrothgar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2006 at 21:11
Rothschild
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  Quote BigL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2006 at 02:05
Ogodei Khan ....
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  Quote Vivek Sharma Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2006 at 02:41
Queen victoria. Would'nt she have a place. all the profits from the colonies plus a huge slave trade.
PATTON NAGAR, Brains win over Brawn
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2006 at 03:11
Slave trade was finito by the time Vicky acended the throne.
I think in absolute terms, Rockerfella was the richest person alive. The wealth of of Kings and nations may at times be greater, but even the most, greedy and lecherous despot knows that he must use some of it for his people, otherwise its his head on a pike.
 
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  Quote Vivek Sharma Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2006 at 03:25
Originally posted by Sparten

Slave trade was finito by the time Vicky acended the throne.
 


You are right, that's why I mentioned this, by her time all the profits from the slave trade had already been accumulated into her treasury.
PATTON NAGAR, Brains win over Brawn
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  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2006 at 03:35

William "Diamond" Pitt, the early manager of the east indian company who practically created the British-Indian Empire

The Archanemid Persian kings such as Cyrus and Darius
 
Late Ottoman Sultans such as Abdulaziz II
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  Quote LeopoldPhilippe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-Jul-2015 at 20:11
Andrew Carnegie, during the last 18 years of his life, gave away to charities, foundations, and universities about $350 million.     
A Carnegie library was a library built with money donated by Andrew Carnegie.
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  Quote J.A.W. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Sep-2015 at 18:20
V. Putin is reputed to have accumulated ~$200 billion..

Most successful gangster in history? 

Guess he wont be able to retire early & enjoy it though..
Be Modest In Thyself..
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