In estimated billions of present-day dollars
- Cornelius Vanderbilt ($185, died 1877)
This railroad tycoon’s only large philanthropic gift gave about 1% of his fortune to build Vanderbilt University.
- Henry Ford ($199, died 1947)
This deceased automaker’s name survives on vehicles seen upon every road and junkyard.
- Muammar Gaddafi ($200, died 2011)
This dictator of Libya, after being discovered hiding in a desert culvert, was killed by his people.
- Jakob Fugger “the Rich” ($221, died 1525)
While he lived, this German merchant-financier declared, “The king reigns, but the bank rules!“
- William The Conqueror ($229, died 1087)
After killing many to capture England, this Duke of Normandy, France joined the dead.
- Mir Osman Ali Khan ($230, died 1967)
As head of the state of Hyderabad, India, he used a 185-carat diamond as a paperweight.
- Czar Nikolas II ($300, died 1918)
This Russian ruler was assassinated along with his family by communist revolutionaries.
- Andrew Carnegie ($310, died 1919)
This steel magnate and philanthropist said, “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.”
- John D. Rockefeller ($340, died 1937)
He sold oil drawn from Ohio’s earth and now lays buried in the same.
- Mansa Musa I ($400, died 1337)
This African king of Mali was the richest man to ever live. But have you ever heard of him?
Psalm 49:7-12 :
“No man can buy his own ransom, or pay a price to God for his life. The ransom of his soul is beyond him. He cannot buy life without end, nor avoid coming to the grave. He knows that wise men and fools must both perish and must leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling place from age to age, though their names spread wide through the land. In his riches, man lacks wisdom; he is like the beasts that are destroyed.”
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