So, the rating of the main rich people in the history of mankind. As world experience shows, it is most profitable to be engaged in industry, oil, wars, and recently also IT.
20. Marshal Field
Marshall Field has amassed his capital by developing the Marshall Field and Co retail chain in Chicago. The network was founded during the American Civil War. These were the first chain stores, where the rule "the customer is always right" was raised to the absolute.
The businesses that served the stores were located even in Australia. Field's maximum fortune, according to Peter Bronstein, was $ 66.1 billion (adjusted for inflation). Field's will was read in court and went down in history as one of the longest (22 thousand words). He appointed two grandchildren as the main heirs.
19. Stephen van Renseller
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Runseller inherited his fortune. He was the last member of the influential family of Dutch "patrons" in the state of New York, from 1630 owning the largest estate in the Albany area - Rensellersvik.
Ranceller was a state senator, then lieutenant governor. In 1824 he founded the Renseller Polytechnic Institute. The New York Times estimated Runseller's maximum fortune at $ 68.5 billion.
18. Jay Gould
Jay Gould was called the "robber baron." His fortune, which experts The New York Times estimated at $ 71.2 billion, Gould earned on railways and speculation in gold.
Jay Gould actually made the transportation revolution in the 19th century USA. With financier James Fisk, he bought enough gold in the market to directly influence that market.
17. Warren Buffett
Buffett is an American entrepreneur, the world's largest investor, his fortune as of March 1, 2015 is estimated at $ 72.7 billion. Known by the nicknames "The Seer", "The Wizard of Omaha" and is the largest benefactor in human history. The investor promised to distribute 99% of his funds.
16. Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim is a Mexican businessman of Arab descent, the son of Maronite immigrants from Lebanon. According to Forbes, Slim was the richest man in the world in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Already in 2008, his fortune was $ 61.8 billion, in 2013 - $ 73 billion. Slim's largest source of income is telecommunications companies.
15. Henry Lancaster
An English aristocrat and diplomat, one of the founders of the Order of the Garter, Henry Lancaster inherited his fortune. It was estimated by experts at $ 77.5 billion. From 1390 to 1392, he led the life of an itinerant knight in continental Europe and Palestine, including participating in the civil war in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
14. Frederick Weyerhauser
According to Peter Bronstein's estimates, Weierhauser's maximum fortune was $ 79.4 billion. He can be called the "king of logging". It was this activity that became his ticket to the rich. When Weyerhauser moved from Germany to the United States, he founded one of the largest logging companies there, and by the early twentieth century had become one of the country's richest landowners.
13. A. T. Stewart
Stewart made his capital in retail. Economist Peter Rubinstein estimated it at $ 88.9 billion. Stewart opened his first department store in Manhattan, then significantly expanded the network.
12. John of Gaunt
Founder of the House of Lancaster, to which the English kings Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI belonged. Gaunt, one of the heroes of Shakespeare's works, regent of Richard II, inherited his fabulous fortune, estimated by the historian William Rubinstein at $ 101 billion.
11. Stephen Girard
A French merchant and banker who directly contributed to saving the US government's economy from financial ruin during the war of 1812, Girard was one of the richest men in America. According to experts, Stephen was the fourth richest man in American history. His fortune is estimated at $ 105 billion. Stephen Girard opened his own bank, Girard's Bank, in the United States.
10. Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel
William Rubinstein estimated the Earl of Arundel's maximum fortune at $ 108 billion (adjusted for inflation). Sources of income are wars. He fought in the Hundred Years War and the Scottish Wars of Independence. His fortune was inherited.
9. John Jacob Astor
Harvard graduate John Jacob Astor made his fortune ($ 121 billion) from trading and investing. He started out with the fur trade, and by 1900 he had established a de facto monopoly in this area. He then switched to real estate investments, primarily in New York. Astor is also known as a writer and inventor. Killed in the Titanic crash.
8. William de Varennes
Norman William I de Varennes became a billionaire for his prowess. He took part in the Battle of Hastings and was rewarded with possessions in Sussex, Norfolk and Yorkshire, becoming the first Earl of Surrey.
Historian William Rubinstein estimated de Varennes' maximum fortune at $ 134 billion (adjusted for inflation).
7. Bill Gates
Bill Gates' fortune peaked in 1999 at $ 136 billion. In the period from 1996 to 2007, in 2009 and in 2015 - the richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine. His fortune in March 2015, according to Forbes magazine, was estimated at $ 79.2 billion.
6. Alan Rufus
According to William Rubinstein, Alan Rufus's maximum fortune was $ 149 billion (adjusted for inflation).
He "amassed" his capital through conquest, and was also generously rewarded for his service. The Norman joined William the Conqueror in the invasion of Britain. He later owned 250,000 acres (over 100,000 hectares) from Yorkshire to London. He also owned Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire.
5. Cornelius Vanderbilt
The economist Bernstein estimated the fortune of the railway tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt at $ 185 billion.
In 1862, Vanderbilt began buying up railway lines, and he also made a lot of profit from shipping - he leased ships, including to the government during the Civil War. Vanderbilt is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of the 19th century, the founder of the plutocratic Vanderbilt dynasty.
4. Nicholas II
In 2012, the American portal Celebrity Net Worth ranked the twenty-five richest people of the millennium. In this rating, Nicholas II was in fifth place in the general list. His fortune Celebrity Net Worth was estimated at $ 300 billion (in modern money). Since the royal family was canonized, Nicholas II is listed as "the richest saint" in the ranking.
3. Andrew Carnegie
Peter Bernstein (Forbes) estimates Carnegie's fortune at $ 309 billion (adjusted for inflation).
Andrew Carnegie was the "king of steel." He invested in steel production at a time when the market was booming and became the head of the United States Steel Corporation.
2. John Rockefeller
According to economist Peter Bernstein, which he did for Forbes magazine, John Rockefeller's fortune was estimated at $ 336 billion.
The main source was oil refineries. In 1870, at age 31, Rockefeller founded Standard Oil. Later he bought most of the US refineries. And today the Rockefellers control up to 90% of the American oil business.
1. Nathan Rothschild
Nathan Rothschild was the richest man of his time, he supported Napoleon and his opponents with money in the Napoleonic Wars. According to a well-known legend, Rothschild earned 40 million pounds sterling in a day on disinformation alone about Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Waterloo. In 1816 England demonetized silver and adopted the gold standard. By this time, the Rothschilds controlled a significant part of the gold reserves and fixed its price.
Today, the Rothschilds' fortune is estimated by experts at $ 350 billion, but some experts speak of $ 1 trillion in family assets.