Wealthy historical figures 2008

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For other uses, see Wealthy Historical Figures.

The list of the most wealthy historical figures of 2008 is based on research done around the world by Forbes magazine in 2007 and other sources of information, and has been adjusted for 2007 US dollars[1]. This is a list of historical figures who lived during the Industrial age[2][3][4], Information Age, Middle Ages[5], Ancient world[6] and is solely based on net worth accumulated by inheritance or personal earnings. The ranking process is done by the percentage of the total GDP of the nation they live in. The estimated net worth of these people is calculated into inflation-adjusted 2007 dollars, from when historical figures were at the peak of their net worth.[7][8] In order to be inflation adjusted for 2007 dollars, the bearer of wealth at time of death or at highest point must be at least 16 years ago. For last year's figures, go to Wealthy Historical Figures 2007.[9][10][11][12]

The next most wealthy historical figures list is set to come out on February 2009.

# Image Name Age when at peak of earnings, or in 2008 for living people Current age, or age at death Wealth in Billion USD Origin Current or Final Residence Company or Source of Wealth
1. John D. Rockefeller 74 97 318.3 United States United States Standard Oil
2. Andrew Carnegie 68 83 298.3 Scotland United States Carnegie Steel Company
3. Nicholas II of Russia 49 50 253.5 Russia Russia House of Romanov
4. William Henry Vanderbilt 64 64 231.6 United States United States Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
5. Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII 50 80 210.8 Hyderabad India Monarchy
6. Andrew W. Mellon 80 82 188.8 United States United States Gulf Oil
7. Henry Ford 57 83 188.1 United States United States Ford Motor Company
8. Marcus Licinius Crassus 62 62 169.8 Roman Republic Roman Republic Roman Senate, conquest, assorted business ventures
9. Basil II 67 67 169.4 Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire Monarchy
10. Cornelius Vanderbilt 82 82 167.4 United States United States New York and Harlem Railroad, shipping
11. Alanus Rufus 49 49 166.9 England England Investments
12. Amenophis III 50 50 155.2 Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt Pharaoh
13. William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey 38 38 153.6 England England Earl of Surrey
14. William II of England 44 44 151.7 England England Monarchy
15. Elizabeth I 69 69 142.9 England England House of Tudor
16. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 54 86 141.4 United States United States Standard Oil
17. Sam Walton 74 74 128.0 United States United States Wal-Mart
18. John Jacob Astor 84 84 115.0 Germany United States American Fur Company
19. Odo of Bayeux 61 61 110.2 England England Monarchy
20. Stephen Girard 81 81 99.5 France United States First Bank of the United States
21. Cleopatra 39 39 95.8 Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt Ptolemaic Inheritance
22. Stephen Van Rensselaer III 81 81 88.8 United States United States Rensselaerswyck Estate
23. Richard B. Mellon 70 74 86.3 United States United States Gulf Oil
24. Alexander Turney Stewart 72 72 84.7 Ireland United States Long Island Rail Road
25. William Backhouse Astor, Jr. 45 61 84.7 United States United States Inheritance
26. Don Simon Iturbi Patino 69 87 81.2 Bolivia Bolivia Huanuni tin mine
27. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah 46 61 80.7 Brunei Brunei Kral
28. Frederick Weyerhaeuser 80 80 80.4 Germany United States Weyerhaeuser Corporation
29. Moses Taylor 76 76 79.3 United States United States Citibank
30. Vincent Astor 20 67 73.9 United States United States Inheritance
31. Carlos Slim Helú 67 67 72.4 Mexico Mexico Telmex
32. T.V. Soong 60 77 67.8 China United States Central Bank of China
33. Jay Gould 56 56 67.1 United States United States Union Pacific
34. Marshall Field 74 74 66.3 United States United States Marshall Field and Company
35. George F. Baker 84 91 63.6 United States United States Central Railroad of New Jersey
36. Hetty Green 71 71 58.8 United States United States Seaboard National Bank
37. Bill Gates 44 52 58.0 United States United States Microsoft
38. Lawrence Joseph Ellison 55 61 58.0 United States United States Oracle Corporation
39. Richard Arkwright 59 59 56.2 England England Derwent Valley Mills
40. Mukesh Ambani 50 50 55.8 India India Reliance Industries
41. Warren Buffett 76 77 52.4 United States United States Berkshire Hathaway
42. Lakshmi Mittal 54 54 51.0 India England Mittal Steel Company
43. J. Paul Getty 83 83 50.1 United States England Getty Oil Company
44. James G. Fair 63 63 47.2 United States United States James Graham Fair
45. William Weightman 91 86 46.1 United States United States Merck & Company
46. Russell Sage 89 89 45.1 United States United States Western Union
47. John Blair 68 68 45.1 United States United States Union Pacific
48. Anil Ambani 48 48 45.0 India India Reliance Communications
49. Leland Stanford 69 69 44.9 United States United States Central Pacific Railroad
50. Howard Robard Hughes Jr. 45 70 43.4 United States United States Hughes Tool Company, Hughes Aircraft Company, Summa Corporation, TWA
51. Cyrus Curtis 82 82 43.2 United States United States Curtis Publishing Company
52. John Insley Blair 97 97 42.4 United States United States Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
53. Edward Henry Harriman 61 61 40.9 United States United States Western Union
54. Henry H. Rogers 69 69 40.9 United States United States Standard Oil Company
55. Paul Allen 46 53 40.0 United States United States Microsoft, Vulcan Inc.
56. John Werner Kluge 76 93 40.0 Germany United States Metropolitan Broadcasting Company
57. J.P. Morgan 76 76 39.8 United States United States General Electric,US Steel
58. Oliver H. Payne 78 78 38.8 United States United States Standard Oil Company
59. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi 56 73 38.1 Japan Japan Seibu Corporation
60. Henry Clay Frick 68 70 37.7 United States United States Carnegie Steel Company
61. John Jacob Astor IV 47 47 37.0 United States United States Inheritance
62. George Pullman 56 66 35.6 United States United States Pullman Company
63. Collis Potter Huntington 70 79 34.6 United States United States Central Pacific Railroad
64. Peter Arrell Brown Widener 71 71 33.5 United States United States American Tobacco Company
65. Philip Danforth Armour 68 68 33.4 United States United States Armour Refrigerator Line
66. William S. O'Brien 53 53 33.3 United States United States Consolidated Virginia Mining Company
67. James C. Flood 52 62 32.5 United States United States Consolidated Virginia Mining Company
68. Ingvar Kamprad 80 80 33.0 Sweden Switzerland IKEA
69. K. P. Singh 76 76 32.9 India India DLF Universal Limited
70. Li Ka-shing 79 79 32.0 China China Hutchison Whampoa Limited
71. Anthony N. Brady 79 79 31.7 United States United States Brooklyn Rapid Transit
72. Elias Hasket Derby 59 59 31.4 United States United States Shipping
73. Mark Hopkins 64 64 30.9 United States United States Central Pacific Railroad
74. Edward Clark 71 71 30.2 United States United States Singer Sewing Machine Company
75. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal 48 48 29.5 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian Kingdom Holding Company
76. Saudi Arabian King Fahd 75 83 29.3 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia King
77. Thomas Fortune Ryan 77 77 28.2 United States United States British-American Tobacco Company
78. Sheldon Adelson 72 72 28.0 United States United States Las Vegas Sands
79. William Rockefeller 69 69 28.0 United States United States Standard Oil
80. Calouste Gulbenkian 86 86 28.0 Turkey Portugal Iraq Petroleum Company
81. H. L. Hunt 75 85 27.5 United States United States Hunt Refining Company
82. Nicholas Longworth 61 61 27.2 United States United States House Majority Leader
83. Queen Elizabeth II 53 81 26.2 Britain Britain Head of the Commonwealth
84. Gordon Moore 62 78 26.0 United States United States Intel Corporation
85. Bernard Arnault 57 57 26.0 France France LVMH
86. Claus Spreckels 59 59 24.9 Germany United States Spreckels Sugar Company
87. George Peabody 74 74 24.8 United States United States Peabody Trust
88. Amancio Ortega 71 71 24.0 Spain Spain Inditex Group
89. Lee Shau Kee 79 79 23.0 China China Henderson Land Development
90. Steven Ballmer 43 51 23.0 United States United States Microsoft
91. Saudi Arabian King King Abdullah 82 82 23.0 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Monarchy
92. Charles Crocker 66 66 22.7 United States United States Central Pacific Railroad
93. Kenneth Thomson 82 82 22.6 Canada Canada Thomson Corporation
94. William Andrews Clark 86 86 22.6 United States United States Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad
95. George Eastman 78 78 22.5 United States United States Eastman Kodak Company
96. Charles Tiffany 90 90 22.4 United States United States Tiffany & Co
97. David Thomson 50 50 22.0 Canada Canada Thomson Corporation
98. Edward Stephen Harkness 66 66 21.5 United States United States Standard Oil
99. Henry M. Flagler 83 83 21.1 United States United States Florida East Coast Railway
100. James Buchanan Duke 68 68 21.1 United States United States Catawba Power Company
101. Roman Abramovich 40 40 21.0 Russia Russia, UK Millhouse Capital
102. Sunil Mittal 57 57 20.9 India India Bharti Airtel
103. Jim Walton 52 56 20.8 United States United States Wal-Mart
104. Liliane Bettencourt 85 85 20.7 France France
L'Oréal
105.
John T. Walton 51 58 20.7 United States United States Wal-Mart
106.
Samuel Robson Walton 61 57 20.5 United States United States Wal-Mart
107. Alice Walton 54 50 20.5 United States United States Wal-Mart
108.
Christy Walton 51 51 20.5 United States United States Wal-mart
109. Helen Walton 82 87 20.4 United States United States Wal-Mart
110. Israel Thorndike 87 87 20.4 United States United States China trade
111. Karl Albrecht 83 87 20.0 Germany Germany ALDI
112. Michael Dell 41 42 20.0 United States United States Dell, Inc.
113. Gerard Mulliez 76 76 19.9 France France
Auchan
114. Isaac Merritt Singer 63 63 19.5 United States United States Singer Sewing Machine Company
115. George Hearst 70 70 19.4 United States United States Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Co.
116. John Hancock 70 70 19.3 United States United States Hancock Manor
117. John W. Garrett 64 64 19.3 United States United States Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
118. John William Mackay 71 71 19.2 United States United States Consolidated Virginia and California
119. Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan 60 60 19.0 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Inheritance
120. Julius Rosenwald 69 69 18.9 United States United States Sears, Roebuck and Company
121. Sergey Brin 34 33 18.5 United States United States Google
122. Larry Page 34 34 18.5 United States United States Google
123. Azim Premji 62 62 18.5 India India Wipro Technologies
124. Stefan Persson 59 59 18.4 Sweden Sweden Hennes & Mauritz
125. Kirk Kerkorian 90 90 18.0 United States United States MGM Mirage
126. George Washington 67 67 17.7 United States United States Mount Vernon Plantation
127. Adolphus Busch 77 77 17.6 United States United States Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
128. John T. Dorrance 67 67 17.5 United States United States Campbell Soup Company
129. Theo Albrecht 85 85 17.5 Germany Germany ALDI
130. David H. Koch 67 67 17.0 United States United States Koch Industries
131. Charles G. Koch 72 72 17.0 United States United States Koch Industries
132. George Pullman 66 66 16.5 United States United States Pullman sleeping car
133. Yang Huiyan 26 26 16.2 China China Country Garden
134. Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. 74 74 15.9 United States United States Johnson & Johnson
135. Horace E. Dodge 52 52 15.5 United States United States Olds Motor Vehicle Company
136. John F. Dodge 65 65 15.5 United States United States Olds Motor Vehicle Company
137. William Henry Aspinwall 68 68 15.1 United States United States Pacific Mail
138. Abigail Johnson 43 43 15.0 United States United States Fidelity Investments
139. Barbara Cox Anthony 85 85 14.6 United States United States Cox Enterprises
140. Felix Yussupov 29 80 14.6 Russia Soviet Union House of Yusupov
141. James J. Hill 77 77 14.6 United States United States Great Northern Railway
142. Carl C. Icahn 71 71 14.5 United States United States TWA
143. François Pinault 71 71 14.5 France France PPR
144. Johns Hopkins 77 77 14.5 United States United States Pacific Mail
145. Suleyman Kerimov 41 41 14.4 Russia Russia Gazprom
146. Vladimir Lisin 51 51 14.3 Russia Russia Novolipetsk Steel
147. Samuel Colt 48 48 14.2 United States United States Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company
148. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum 58 58 14.0 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Inheritance
149. Sumner Redstone 76 84 14.0 United States United States CBS
150. Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster 56 57 14.0 United Kingdom United Kingdom Grosvenor Group
151. Jack C. Taylor 84 84 13.9 United States United States Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company
152. James Stillman 67 67 13.9 United States United States Texas and Pacific Railroad
153. William Collins Whitney 63 63 13.8 United States United States Metropolitan Street Railway
154. Vladimir Potanin 46 46 13.5 Russia Russia United Export Import Bank
155. Mikhail Prokhorov 42 42 13.5 Russia Russia MMC Norilsk Nickel
156. Oleg Deripaska 42 42 13.3 Russia Russia Rusal
157. William Thaw 71 71 13.2 United States United States Pennsylvania Railroad
158. Donald Bren 75 75 13.0 United States United States Irvine Company
159. Cyrus McCormick 85 85 12.9 United States United States International Harvester Company
160. Anil Agarwal 54 54 12.7 India India Vedanta Resources
161. Mikhail Fridman 43 43 12.6 Russia Russia Alfa Group
162. Anne Cox Chambers 98 98 12.6 United States United States Cox Enterprises
163. Kumar Mangalam Birla 40 40 12.5 India India Aditya Birla Group
164. Arthur Vining Davis 95 95 12.4 United States United States Aluminum Company of America
165. Joseph Pulitzer 64 64 12.0 United States United States St. Louis Post-Dispatch
166. Daniel Willis James 75 75 11.7 England United States Ansonia Clock Company
167. Nasser Al-Kharafi 63 63 11.5 Kuwaiti Kuwaiti M.A. Kharafi & Sons
168. Leonardo Del Vecchio 72 72 11.5 Italy Italy
Luxottica
169. Franklin Winfield Woolworth 50 66 11.3 United States United States F.W. Woolworth Company
170. Alexei Mordashov 42 42 11.2 Russia Russia Severstal
171. Hans Rausing 81 81 11.1 Sweden United Kingdom Tetra Pak
172. Charlie Ergen 46 54 11.0 United States United States EchoStar Communications Corporation
173. Spiro Latsis 61 61 11.0 Greek Greek EFG Bank European Financial Group
174. Birgit Rausing 83 83 11.0 Sweden Switzerland
Tetra Pak & DeLaval
175. Jay Van Andel 66 84 11.0 United States United States Amway
176. John McDonogh 71 71 10.8 United States United States American Colonization Society
177. Samuel Slater 76 76 10.4 United States United States Slater Mill
178. Viktor Vekselberg 50 51 10.4 Russia Russia Renova Group
179. Hilary Weston 63 65 10.4 Ireland Ireland Holt Renfrew
180. Benjamin Franklin 84 84 10.3 United Kingdom United States Pennsylvania Gazette
181. August Belmont 83 83 10.0 United States United States Democratic National Committee
182. Serge Dassault 82 82 10.0 France France Dassault Group
183. Tulsi Tanti 48 48 10.0 India India Suzlon Energy
184. Michele Ferrero 81 81 10.0 Italy Italy Ferrero SpA
185. Ronald Owen Perelman 47 64 10.0 United States United States Revlon Corporation
186. Naguib Sawiris 52 52 10.0 Egypt Egypt Orascom group
187. Capt. Robert Dollar 88 88 9.5 United States United States Pacific Mail Steamship Company
188. Henry Phipps 90 90 9.1 United States United States Carnegie Steel Company
189. Rupert Murdoch 76 76 9.0 Australia Australia News Corporation
190. Richard Warren Sears 56 80 9.0 United States United States Sears, Roebuck and Company
191. Richard DeVos 64 81 8.9 United States United States Amway
192. Pierre Omidyar 40 40 8.8 France France Omidyar Network
193. Ernesto Bertarelli 42 42 8.8 Italy Switzerland Merck Serono
194. George Soros 77 77 8.5 Hungary Hungary Soros Fund Management
195. Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. 80 80 8.5 United States United States Advance Publications
196. Charles W. Post 59 59 8.2 United States United States Postum Cereal Co.
197. Peter Chardon Brooks 81 81 8.0 United States United States New England Insurance Company
198. Mohammed Al Amoudi 61 61 8.0 Ethiopia Saudi Arabia Corral Petroleum Holdings
199. Sir Richard Charles Branson 57 57 7.8 United Kingdom United Kingdom Virgin Group
200. David Packard 83 83 7.7 United States United States Hewlett-Packard

[edit] Background on the list

There are some changes since the last list of wealthy historical figures, and also some returning members. There are new rules and outlines defining a historical figure, rules that are only needed to make the list more simple. There are also members from Ancient Rome, such as Marcus Licinius Crassus, who in the 1st Century B.C. was the wealthiest person alive. For more on the GDP of that time, go to List of regions by past GDP (PPP).

There have been other recent changes to the list over the span of a year:

  • The 17 year limit has been lowered to 16 years due to excessive length.
  • Andrew Carnegie has been doubled in fortune due to new information regarding his previous wealth, Andrew Mellon has been tripled in fortune and H.L. Hunt has been demoted due to lack of information to support his previous wealth estimate.
  • If there is no photo of a member, the logo of their company is inserted until a replacement can be found.
  • There are usually 100 members in the list, now there are 200 on the list, including modern billionaires.
  • Only billionaires qualify for this list, no modern millionaires.

The Walton family has decreased because of the death of Helen Walton and her personal fortune being donated to charities, the estimated decrease of money is expected to reach $69.1 billion by 2009, until then, the level is roughly half that. The families on this are based on their current wealth, not at the time of when it was the highest, as it says on the top of the list. John D. Rockefeller has increased his fortune number fasted than the GDP calculations per year should do, the explanation for this is that in 1937, he had a fortune of $1,800,000,000, $1,000,000,000 in 1916, and $900,000,000 in 1913, which at that time, was the highest share of GDP in his monetary history. The other lists, however, were based on the other estimates. We are sure that this is the most accurate number and remain hopeful that there will be no more changes, if there is any new information claiming that there was a higher point in the GDP percentage and it is proven, it will be put on the list as soon as possible.

The number of members has also increased due to the expansion of the internet, plus the growing number of billionaires and reference to them, there is now over 200 members than the past one hundred last year, most of this information comes from Forbes.[13][14][15][16] The next list is expecting to come out on January 2009, when the GDP of 2008 is documented.[17][18][19] Please note for users that all facts and figures are final in this list and any changes to be done with this page can be posted and notified in next years list.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "2007 GDP of America", Econstats.com, February 6, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 
  2. ^ "The Wealthiest Americans Ever", New York Times, July 15, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. 
  3. ^ "List of Richest Americans, Past and Present", Get Rich Slowly, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  4. ^ "Richest Americans in History", Forbes, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. 
  5. ^ "Richest People in History of the UK", Times on Line, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
  6. ^ "Richest and Wealthiest People in History", Trivia Library, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  7. ^ "What was the GDP then?", Eh.net, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-04. 
  8. ^ "Measuring Worth", www.measuringworth.com, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  9. ^ "List of Wealthy 100", adherents.com, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-09. 
  10. ^ "Wealthy 100", adherents.com, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-09. 
  11. ^ "CNN Money: The Richest Americans", money.cnn.com, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-31. 
  12. ^ "American Wealth", www.raken.com, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 
  13. ^ "Forbes 400, Richest Americans 2000", Forbes, 2000. Retrieved on 2009-01-06. 
  14. ^ "Forbes 400, Richest Americans 1999", Forbes, 1999. Retrieved on 2009-01-06. 
  15. ^ "Forbes 400, Richest Americans 1998", Forbes, 1998. Retrieved on 2009-01-06. 
  16. ^ "Forbes 400, Richest Americans 2003", Forbes, 2003. Retrieved on 2009-01-06. 
  17. ^ "The All -Time Richest Americans", Forbes, July 10, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-14. 
  18. ^ "The Millennium of People; Richest.", interactive.wsj.com, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  19. ^ "The Millennium: Richest People in History", interactive.wsj.com, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
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