WEST AFRICAN KING CROWNED WEALTHIEST PERSON EVER TO LIVE IN HISTORY

An obscure king who ruled West Africa in the 14th century has been named the richest person in history in a new inflation-adjusted list of the world's 25 wealthiest people of all time.

Spanning 1,000 years and with a combined fortune of $4.317trillion, only three of the list's 25 are alive today; none of them are women and 14 of them are American.
Using the annual 2199.6per cent rate of inflation, where $100million in 1913 is equal to $2.299.63billion in 2012, Celebrity Net Worth's list includes familiar names like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; but sitting at number one is Mansa Musa I of Mali.

 

Centuries apart: Mansa Musa I (left) was a 12th century African King, and the richest person to ever live worth $400 billion; Bill Gates (right) ranks 12th with a inflation adjusted $136 billion fortune at his peak in 1999

The West Africa king, the richest person in history, and the ruler of the Malian Empire which covered modern day Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali in West Africa, had a personal net worth of $400billion at the time of his death in 1331.
The list also includes the man who gave America Wal-Mart, another who developed mail-order shopping around 1870, as well as a few nobles who helped with the Norman conquest of England in the Battle of Hastings nearly one thousand years ago.
The Rothschild family, second on the list, are the richest people on earth today with assets that total at least $350billion - their wealth divided amongst mining, banks, private asset management, mixed farming, wine, and charities.
Meanwhile John D. Rockefeller, third on the list, is the richest American to have ever lived, worth $340billion in today's USD at the time of his death in 1937.
In comparison, the poorest man on the list is 82-year-old Warren Buffett, who at his peak net worth, before he started giving his fortune to charity, was $64billion.

1. MANSA MUSA I - $400 BILLION (BORN 1280)

Mansa Musa I: This video game representation of the king shows what he may have looked like

Mansa Musa I, the richest person in history, had a personal net worth of $400billion at the time of his death in 1331.
Born in 1280, he ruled West Africa's Malian Empire which covered modern day Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali.
His country's production of more than half the world's supply of salt and gold contributed to Musa's vast wealth, which he used to build large mosques that still stand today.
According to the writings of Arab-Egyptian scholar Al-Umari, Musa inherited his throne through a practice of appointing a deputy after the king goes on his pilgrimage to Mecca; later naming the deputy as heir.
Musa was appointed deputy of the king before him, who had reportedly embarked on an expedition to explore the limits of the Atlantic ocean, and never returned.
Just two generations after his death, however, Musa's world record net worth was diminished after is heirs were not able to fend off civil war and invading conquerors.
2. ROTHSCHILD FAMILY - $350 BILLION (BORN 1744)

Mayer Amschel Rothschild: Thanks to this founding father of international finance, Mr Rothschild's heirs are worth at least $350 billion

The Rothschild family, known as the House of Rothschild, are the richest people on earth today with assets that total at least $350billion.
As a European banking dynasty, of German-Jewish origin, they established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century.
It all started with Mayer Amschel Rothschild, born in 1744, who developed a finance house and installed each of his five sons in five main European financial centers to conduct business, successfully spreading the family empire.
The Rothschild coat of arms contains a clenched fist with five arrows symbolizing the five dynasties established by the five sons.
The family's wealth was divided amongst hundreds of descendants, and today, Rothschild businesses encompass the fields of mining, banks, private asset management, mixed farming, wine, and charities.
3. JOHN D ROCKEFELLER - $340 BILLION (BORN 1839)
John D. Rockefeller, third on the list, is the richest American to have ever lived. At the time of his death in 1937, he was worth $340billion in today's dollars - he was also the first American acquire a net worth over $1billion.

John D. Rockefeller: The richest American to have ever lived was worth $340 billion in today's dollars

In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company, which dominated American Oil production and his monopoly was eventually broken up by the U.S. government into smaller companies including Amoco, Chevron Conoco, and ExxonMobil.
Two years after building an oil refinery in 1863 with his business partner Maurice B. Clark, Mr Rockefeller bought him out for $72,500 and established the firm of Rockefeller & Andrews, which he said 'determined' his career.
He then spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement, using his fortune to create foundations that had an unparallelled effect on medicine, education, and scientific research.
In 1884, Rockefeller provided major funding for a college in Atlanta for African-American women, which became Spelman College, also giving $80million to the University of Chicago, turning the small Baptist college into a world-class institution by 1900.
It was after Standard Oil moved its headquarters to Manhattan at 26 Broadway that Mr Rockefeller became a central figure in the New York City's community.
In 1901, he founded the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, which was instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever, and later changed its name to Rockefeller University in 1965.

4. ANDREW CARNEGIE - $310 BILLION (BORN 1835)

Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish-American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century, made most of his fortune when he sold his Carnegie Steel Company to JP Morgan for $480million in 1901, acquiring a net worth equivalent to $310billion in today's dollars.
After selling his company, he dedicated his time to charity, giving away the majority of his fortune during his lifetime. His final $30million was then donated after his death.

 

Men of the 1800's: Andrew Carnegie (left) made sold his Carnegie Steel Company to JP Morgan for $480million in 1901; Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (right) had a net worth of $300 billion when he was abdicated in 1917

5. TSAR NICHOLAS II OF RUSSIA - $300 BILLION (BORN 1868)
Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, also known as Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, ruled the Russian empire from 1894, until his abdication in 1917.
With a net worth of nearly $900million, which is the 2012 inflation adjusted equivalent to $300billion, Bolshevik revolutionists (a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) murdered the Tsar and his family, overthrowing his empire in 1918.
Under his rule, he approved the Russian mobilization of August 1914, which marked the beginning of Russia's involvement in World War I, in which 3.3 million Russians were killed.
6. MIR OSMAN ALI KHAN - $236 BILLION (BORN 1886)
The ruler of Hyderabad until the country was invaded by India, Mir Osman Ali Khan, also known as The Nizam of Hyderabad, had a personal collection of gold that was worth more than $100million and owned over $400million worth of jewels.
His famous Jacob Diamond, worth $95million today was used as a paperweight in his office. He supposedly owned more than 50 Rolls Royces.