View Full Version : World's Wealthiest of all time
Almighty Colin
10-01-2003, 04:58 AM
From AskMen.com
10. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (UAE) -- $ 23 billion
9. Paul Allen -- $25 billion
8. Warren Buffett -- $28 billion
7. King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud (Saudi) -- $30 billion
6. Lawrence J. Ellison -- $55 billion
5. William Gates III -- $60 billion
4. John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) -- $85 billion
3. Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) -- $100 billion
2. Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) -- $110 billion
1. John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) -- $200 billion
Hooper
10-01-2003, 08:59 AM
i'm assuming that is adjusted for the value of the dollar?
Almighty Colin
10-01-2003, 09:02 AM
Originally posted by Hooper@Oct 1 2003, 08:07 AM
i'm assuming that is adjusted for the value of the dollar?
Yup.
Nickatilynx
10-01-2003, 09:02 AM
John D Rockefeller was a billionaire,back when a billion dollars was a lot of money .
:yowsa:
Almighty Colin
10-01-2003, 09:06 AM
Astor, John Jacob —1763-1848 John Jacob Astor was born in Waldorf, Germany in 1763 and emigrated to the New World at the close of the Revolutionary War, when he was 21. He arrived in Baltimore, penniless, but was shrewd and ambitious. He opened a small fur shop in 1786 in New York City and soon became a leader of the China trade.
...
His AMERICAN FUR COMPANY (1808) created the first American monopoly on the fur trade in U.S. territories. The Lewis and Clark Expeditions had opened his eyes to new opportunities in the Northwest Territories. He sent out two expeditions of his own, to establish a fur trading post at Fort Astor, which eventually became the city Astoria, Oregon.
...
By 1810, John Jacob Astor was worth two million dollars. He began to invest all his surplus money in New York real estate, buying up lots in the desolate northern part of Manhattan and gambling that the growing city would catch up. When the government asked its wealthiest citizens to help fund the War of 1812, he did his part - clearly to his advantage, paying only eighty-eight cents on the dollar for two million dollars' worth of government bonds.
...
At his death in 1848, Astor was the wealthiest person in the country, worth $20 million.
From: http://www.astorsbeechwood.com/JohnJacobAstor.html
ulfie
10-01-2003, 12:13 PM
One of Andrew Carnegie's old homes is about 10 minutes from where I live. It's now a rehab hospital so that should tell you something about the size of it. I think the original home had 80 rooms. The Carnegie foundation still to this day has billions of dollars that they use to fund museums, the arts, libraries, etc.
"Carnegie Foundation
The seed was shown for the greatest endowment in American history, when a mere messenger boy named Andrew Carnegie a Scottish immigrant raised in Allegheny, gained access to the 400 hundred volume library of Colonel James Anderson. By the time of his death he had endowed $ 65 million to erect and fill 2,811 Free Libraries in communities across the United States and other English speaking countries.
Of these , 1,946 were located in the United States - 660 in Britain and Ireland , 156 in Canada. A hand full of libraries were also scattered in places like New Zealand, the West Indies and even Fiji."
Peaches
10-01-2003, 01:59 PM
I do things opposite - I'm number 200 billion with a net worth of $10.
Such things are impossible to estimate.
Diamond Jim
10-01-2003, 02:10 PM
Originally posted by Peaches@Oct 1 2003, 01:07 PM
I do things opposite - I'm number 200 billion with a net worth of $10.
(Looks up at Peaches from below on the list)
Some pretty crazy amounts of money there!
Bestat
10-01-2003, 04:53 PM
Gates is still the only one alive to enjoy his though. :P
Almighty Colin
10-01-2003, 05:04 PM
Originally posted by Bestat@Oct 1 2003, 04:01 PM
Gates is still the only one alive to enjoy his though. :P
Numbers 6-10 are alive and well also. ;-)
10. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (UAE) -- $ 23 billion
9. Paul Allen -- $25 billion
8. Warren Buffett -- $28 billion
7. King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud (Saudi) -- $30 billion
6. Lawrence J. Ellison -- $55 billion
Nickatilynx
10-01-2003, 05:57 PM
The Sultan of Brunei doesn't feature on that list any more,but DAMN he knows how to live :)
http://autozine.kyul.net/article/brunei/sultan.htm
Why isn't Sam Walton on that list someplace?
If all of his kids are in the top 10 now. It would stand to reason that before he died he was incredibly wealthy.
It looks like Sam Walton did some pretty intelligent Estate Planning.
http://financialcounsel.com/Articles/Estat...chillesHeel.asp (http://financialcounsel.com/Articles/EstatePlanning/ARTEST0000025-AchillesHeel.asp)
"Although the family business was worth approximately $25 billion at Sam Walton's death in 1992, much of the business had either been placed in the hands of heirs to begin with, or transferred there by gift or sale over time. As a result, Walton was left with a 10% share of the business at his death and this was transferred to his wife free of tax, thanks to the unlimited marital deduction.
At his wife's death, Walton's assets will pass to family-run charities, once again avoiding estate taxation. As for the remaining 90% of the business assets that had been transferred out of Sam Walton's estate prior to his death, there were no transfer taxes that applied as a result of Sam Walton's death."
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2026, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.