Although Elon Musk is currently recognized as the wealthiest individual in the world today, historians would argue that he doesn’t make it into the ranks of the top five wealthiest people throughout history.
The CEO of SpaceX, Musk, is associated with some of the world’s most influential companies. In addition to overseeing the spacecraft production company, he is also involved with Tesla, Neuralink, and more recently, Twitter.
With an estimated fortune of $242 billion (£190bn), he is acknowledged as the world’s richest person alive at present, according to the Bloomberg billionaire list—despite the unveiling of the Tesla Cybercab reportedly costing him a $15 billion loss.
Even with such a substantial fortune, Musk doesn’t make it to the top five historical figures in terms of wealth. Jacob Davidson from Money.com noted back in 2015 that, when adjusted for inflation, the wealthiest man ever was actually Mansa Musa, a ruler of the Mali Empire who lived from 1280 to 1337.
Musa, who led Mali as king from 1312 until his death, is described by Davidson as ‘richer than anyone could describe’. However, Celebrity Net Worth estimates his wealth to have been approximately $400 billion (£307bn), which means Musk falls short by $158 billion.
Musa’s vast fortune is largely credited to the gold Mali produced and traded during his reign. By the late 14th century, Mali contributed over two-thirds of all gold in Europe.
His wealth was so immense that he was able to give away a significant portion of his gold to the less fortunate during his travels.
In 1325, during a pilgrimage to Mecca, Musa stopped in Cairo for a month with an entourage of 60,000 men and 12,000 slaves, each carrying approximately four pounds of gold bars. This amounted to a total of 288,000 pounds of gold entering Cairo’s economy.
In today’s terms, this would equate to about $6.4 billion dispersed among the populace. However, this act of generosity led to the devaluation of gold, requiring Musa to trade some back.
Musa continued his rule until his death, which historians commonly place in 1337.
Other notable figures on the list of wealthiest individuals in history include Augustus Caesar with a fortune of $4.6 trillion (£3.5tn), John D Rockefeller with $341 billion (£239bn), and William The Conqueror with $229 billion (£176bn).
As of now, on October 17, Musk’s wealth is appraised at $242 billion, positioning him approximately 7th among the richest individuals ever. While not the top spot, it’s still a remarkable achievement!