# Richest person ever?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 27, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381 "2004-06-27T04:09:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Second](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/1 "2004-06-27T04:09:38Z")
Who was the richest person ever, or if that cannot be determined, from say 1800 - Present? Would it still be Bill Gates even after adjusting for inflation?
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/2 "2004-06-27T04:12:03Z")
[Richest Person Ever](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=54516)
> [@](#):
>
> Richest Person Ever
> The wealth of America’s John D Rockefeller was estimated at $900 million in 1913, equivalent to $189.6 billion today. His first job, in the 1850s, earned him a wage of just $3.57 per week, but he was given a pay rise and promotion within months. The zeroes on his pay packet multiplied, and by 1913, he had earned himself an estimated $900 million. Having made his fortune in oil, Rockefeller retired in 1897. By 1922 he had given away $1 billion to charity and to his family. Rockefeller died in 1937, but still remains, without doubt, the richest person ever
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### Author:  [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/3 "2004-06-27T04:22:16Z")
Yea, but money is so shallow.
I think I am the richest person ever because I have _heart!_
Leave me alone, the OP has been answered!
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/4 "2004-06-27T05:27:45Z")
Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther wrote a book called _The Wealthy 100_ about the 100 richest men in American history. They based their rankings on what percentage of the nation’s money the person held during his peak year. Rockefeller came first on the list.
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/5 "2004-06-27T08:23:47Z")
I guess it’s pretty well known that Scrooge McDuck is certainly the world’s richest duck, having beaten Flintheart Glomgold in two competitive contests. See [Who’s richer, Bill Gates or Scrooge McDuck?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mricher.html)
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/6 "2004-06-27T15:40:41Z")
Kudos to a fellow Carl Banks fanatic.
For the record, Flintheart Glomgold is the best character name in the history of creativity.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/7 "2004-06-27T15:57:41Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#):
>
> For the record, Flintheart Glomgold is the best character name in the history of creativity.
Aw, you’re just too modest, **EXAPNO MAPCASE**.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/8 "2004-06-27T16:09:13Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther wrote a book called _The Wealthy 100_ about the 100 richest men in American history. They based their rankings on what percentage of the nation’s money the person held during his peak year. Rockefeller came first on the list.
Where did he rank Cornelius Vanderbilt? I’ve seen Vanderbilt quoted as the all-time richest on the same basis. He was a couple generations before Rockefeller, and I would imagine that it would depend on how you chose to measure the total wealth of the nation. Vanderbilt was worth $105 million at his death in 1877, nowhere near what John D. was worth, but he lived before the Gilded Age, when economic expansion, and the resultant fortunes, exploded (1878-1889, according to a quick google check).
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### Author:  [@citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citrus_x_paradisi)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/9 "2004-06-27T16:10:37Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther wrote a book called _The Wealthy 100_ about the 100 richest men in American history. They based their rankings on what percentage of the nation’s money the person held during his peak year. Rockefeller came first on the list.
I think that’s interesting, and is analagous to the comment I had in mind. Though they may not have had (or needed!) currency, rulers like the pharaohs could get whatever they wanted anyway. What do you mean by ‘rich’, though?
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/10 "2004-06-27T16:53:28Z")
> [@yabob](#):
>
> Where did he rank Cornelius Vanderbilt? I’ve seen Vanderbilt quoted as the all-time richest on the same basis.
You might enjoy this link to the results of that survey [http://www.eh.net/atp/answers/0721.php](http://www.eh.net/atp/answers/0721.php)
Vanderbilt was 3rd.
The most surprising thing(to me, anyway) was the unfamiliarity of many of the names.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richest-person-ever/252381/11 "2004-06-27T17:27:18Z")
> [@samclem](#):
>
> Aw, you’re just too modest, **EXAPNO MAPCASE**.
Would it were mine. :o