Richest man in history... a Civ leader

[kochman]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...y-8213453.html

Mansa Musa! $400B!!!
And just what was he spending all that money on back then?

Can you imagine, had that wealth been redistributed?


Rothschilds come in 2nd with $350B. Where is their empire in Civ?

[hobbsyoyo]

No way! Mansa Musa was that loaded? Wuddathunkit

[Murky]

It's been adjusted for inflation.

The list uses the annual 2199.6 per cent rate of inflation to adjust historic fortunes – a formula that means $100 million in 1913 would be equal to £2.299.63 billion today.

[Antilogic]

This jumped out at me:

The list uses the annual 2199.6 per cent rate of inflation to adjust historic fortunes – a formula that means $100 million in 1913 would be equal to $2.299.63 billion today.

I'd like to know how they came up with that number. But the photo gallery is really interesting, it's worth checking out. Seems like they have a lot of English and Normans, plenty of Americans, and a smattering of others.

[History_Buff]

The list uses the annual 2199.6 per cent rate of inflation to adjust historic fortunes

Surely it can't be 2200% annually. That seems awfully high.

[west india man]

It's probably so it accounts for periods of hyperinflation throughout history.

[Antilogic]

They could also be accounting for the industrial revolution (and the giant leaps in productivity) in the 19th century, and averaging it out over the time period in question. I wouldn't be surprised if they got their number by estimating the average change in "gross world product" (GDP-analog).

[SS-18 ICBM]

Financial cottage spam pays. A lot.

[west india man]

It helps that he had tons of floodplains as well

[Dachs]

The inflation totals that they used are overly simplistic at best and, more likely, out-and-out wrong. The persons they have attempted to take account of show a very obvious bias; they're pretty much all either Anglophone, lived in what eventually would become an Anglophone country, or are fairly famous to the average English purveyor of pop-history. Where are the Anastasios Is, the Crassuses, the Shah Jahans, and the Shenzong Emperors?

In short, this is a trashy and unhistorical piece and it belongs in the Tavern instead of WH. Fortunately, it's already there.

[SS-18 ICBM]

Originally Posted by Dachs

The inflation totals that they used are overly simplistic at best and, more likely, out-and-out wrong. The persons they have attempted to take account of show a very obvious bias; they're pretty much all either Anglophone, lived in what eventually would become an Anglophone country, or are fairly famous to the average English purveyor of pop-history. Where are the Anastasios Is, the Crassuses, the Shah Jahans, and the Shenzong Emperors?

In short, this is a trashy and unhistorical piece and it belongs in the Tavern instead of WH. Fortunately, it's already there.

Where did you find the other 25 that weren't mentioned? I'm having trouble looking for it.

[potatokiosk]

I'm surprised that anyone seriously believes a 14th century king was better off than Bill Gates.

[kochman]

Originally Posted by potatokiosk

I'm surprised that anyone seriously believes a 14th century king was better off than Bill Gates.

Standard of living, no... but proportionally.
Maybe part of his success is they didn't have private planes to fly in meals from Paris...

[Dachs]

Originally Posted by SS-18 ICBM

Where did you find the other 25 that weren't mentioned? I'm having trouble looking for it.

It's at the bottom of the linked article in the OP.

Quoted verbatim from the original article:

Originally Posted by Brian Warner

#1 Mansa Musa I – Net Worth $400 Billion
#2 The Rothschild Family – $350 Billion
#3 John D. Rockefeller – Net Worth $340 Billion
#4 Andrew Carnegie – Net Worth $310 Billion
#5 Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov – Net Worth $300 Billion
#6 Mir Osman Ali Khan – Net Worth $230 billion
#7 William [I] The Conqueror – Net Worth $229.5 Billion
#8 Muammar Gaddafi – Net Worth $200 Billion
#9 Henry Ford – Net Worth $199 Billion
#10 Cornelius Vanderbilt – Net Worth $185 Billion
#11 Alan Rufus – $178.65 billion
#12 Bill Gates – Net Worth $136 Billion
#13 William de Warenne – Net Worth $147.13 Billion
#14 John Jacob Astor – Net Worth $121 Billion
#15 Richard Fitzalan [sic] 10th Earl of Arundel – Net Worth $118.6 Billion
#16 John of Gaunt – Net Worth $110 Billion
#17 Stephen Girard – Net Worth $105 Billion
#18 A.T. Stewart – Net Wort [sic] $90 Billion
#19 Henry Duke of Lancaster – Net Worth $85.1 Billion
#20 Friedrich Weyerhauser [sic] – Net Worth $80 Billion
#21 Jay Gould – Net Worth $71 Billion
#22 Carlos Slim Helu [sic] – Net Worth $68 Billion
#22 Stephen Van Rensselaer – Net Worth $68 Billion
#23 Marshall Field – Net Worth $66 Billion
#24 Sam Walton – Net Worth $65 Billion
#25 Warren Buffett – Net Worth $64 Billion

I provided certain Wikipedia links for convenience.

Also note that there are in fact 26 "people" on this list, if you count "the Rothschild family" as a single person (laughable). There are two 22s.

As you can see, the list has more than a few absurdities. William I and two of his fellow brigands are cited on this list; one might make sense, but three of them at the same time is ridiculous considering the relative wealth of Norman England and, say, contemporary Song China. A further two medieval Englishmen are on the list, both from the fourteenth century, and if either one of them could boast more wealth than, say, Harun al-Rashid, I'll eat my shirt. In fact, the only non-white people on this list at all are a) the nizam of Hyderabad, noted British puppet; b) Qadhafi, which is bizarre considering the sultan of Brunei isn't on the list; c) Carlos Slim; d) Mansa Musa.

Total composition of the list:

The Tokens

One (1) Mexican man (Carlos Slim)
One (1) Libyan man (Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi)
One (1) Malinese man (Mansa Musa)
One (1) Indian man (Mir Osman Ali Khan)
One (1) German man (Friedrich Weyerhäuser)
One (1) Russian man (Nikolai II)
One (1) Jewish family (the Rothschilds)

The Medieval Englishmen

Six (6) Englishmen (John of Gaunt; the Earl of Arundel; Alan Rufus; William de Warenne; William I; the [first?] duke of Lancaster)

The American Robber Barons and Modern Tycoons¹

Thirteen (13) American men (Astor; Ford; Vanderbilt; Gould; Field; Walton; Buffett; Gates; Van Rensselaer; Stewart; Girard; Rockefeller; Carnegie)

¹ = trololol what's the difference

[Leoreth]

Weyerhäuser counts more as an American than as a German, too.

[r16]

walking today ı saw a discarded newspaper that mentioned this and they used a picture that is most probably a Civ leader head ... Actually the one in the link which happens to be the first in google search .

[Quackers]

seems legit

[strijder20]

Originally Posted by History_Buff

Surely it can't be 2200% annually. That seems awfully high.

They say annually, but they mean per century.

[SS-18 ICBM]

Originally Posted by Dachs

.

Also note that there are in fact 26 "people" on this list, if you count "the Rothschild family" as a single person (laughable). There are two 22s.

Makes it easier. As you said, pop-history.

Originally Posted by Dachs

As you can see, the list has more than a few absurdities. William I and two of his fellow brigands are cited on this list; one might make sense, but three of them at the same time is ridiculous considering the relative wealth of Norman England and, say, contemporary Song China. A further two medieval Englishmen are on the list, both from the fourteenth century, and if either one of them could boast more wealth than, say, Harun al-Rashid, I'll eat my shirt. In fact, the only non-white people on this list at all are a) the nizam of Hyderabad, noted British puppet; b) Qadhafi, which is bizarre considering the sultan of Brunei isn't on the list; c) Carlos Slim; d) Mansa Musa.

Ah, I see. So even the top 25 shows bias. Still, I wonder who the bottom 25 that weren't mentioned were. Though I suppose it is fair to assume they follow the same pattern too.

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

Ummm... What are we talking about?