Today we measure wealth in millions and billions. These are just finite and limited wealth.  But there were even richer people who lived in the face of the earth, with incomprehensible wealth in trillions.

Today in modern times, no such trillionaires exist.   A trillionaire adds twelve zeroes after a number, and is thousand times richer than a billionaire.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder’s wealth $159b, while other royal families wealth is only a fraction compared to these people who lived in ancient times.  Rockefeller and Carnegie amassed close to $350 billion, not even half of trillion.  The net worth of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is approximately only $3.1 billion according to Forbes as of 5 March 2019

Wealth is declining among the rich, in today’s world, and it would take another century to produce the first trillionaire of the modern times. It would take another thousand years to produce a Quadrillionaire. We certainly wont see in our lifetime.

Let us take a look at the people who held unprecedented wealth in trillions.

1. Mansa Musa

• 1280-1337
• King of the Mali empire and Timbuktu
• Total wealth: immeasurable

Mansa Musa was the emperor and sultan of Malian Empire consisted of territory formerly belonging to the Ghana Empire in present-day southern Mauritania and in Mali and the immediate surrounding areas.  During his reign, gold was in substantial demand and Mali may have been the largest producer of gold in the world bringing him immeasurable wealth.

Musa was a devoted muslim and he would build new mosque every friday

Musa embarked on a pilgrimage to Meccah between 1324 and 1325, taking with him 60,000 men, all wearing brocade and Persian silk,  12,000 slaves, who each carried 1.8 kg (4 lb) of gold bars, and heralds dressed in silks, who bore gold staffs, organized horses, and handled bags and 80 camels which each carried 23–136 kg (50–300 lb) of gold dust. Musa provided all necessities for the procession, feeding the entire company of men and animals.  Musa gave the gold to the poor he met along his route.  Musa not only gave to the cities he passed on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina, but also traded gold for souvenirs.

Musa’s generous actions inadvertently devastated the economies of the regions through which he passed. In the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, the sudden influx of gold devalued the metal for the next decade. Prices on goods and wares greatly inflated. To rectify the gold market, on his way back from Mecca, Musa borrowed all the gold he could carry from money-lenders in Cairo at high interest. This is the only time recorded in history that one man directly controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean

It is recorded that Mansa Musa traveled through the cities of Timbuktu and Gao on his way to Mecca, and made them a part of his empire when he returned around 1325.

News of the Malian empire’s city of wealth even traveled across the Mediterranean to southern Europe, where traders from Venice, Granada, and Genoa soon added Timbuktu to their maps to trade manufactured goods for gold.  Timbuktu soon became a center of trade, culture, and Islam.

While Musa’s palace has since vanished, the university (Sankore) and mosque still stand in Timbuktu today.

2. Genghis Khan

• 1206-1227
• King of Mongol Empire
• Estimated wealth: $100+ trillion

The Mongol empire was one the greatest empires world ever seen, stretching from asia to west until eurasia. Mongols conquered vast stretches of lands (25 square million miles) and controlling silk road,  bringing Genghis Khan so much wealth

3. Zhao Xu

• 1048-1085
• Emperor Shenzong of Song in China)
• Estimated wealth: $30 trillion

Zhau Xu was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty in China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to “Zhao Xu” after his coronation. He reigned from 1067 until his death in 1085.

The enormous wealth came from technology innovations and efficient reform in collecting taxes.  The Song dynasty was the first to use gun powder and first to introduce paper money during the 11th century. The emperor supported modern welfare state in well being of their citizens.

The Emperor Shenzong died in 1085 at the age of 36 from an unspecified illness and was succeeded by his son, Zhao Xu

4. Akbar

• 1542-1605
• Emperor of India’s Mughal dynasty)
• Estimated wealth: $21 trillion

The Indian emperor conquered hundreds of thousands of square miles of territory and ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent, known as the Mughal Empire from 1556 until 1605. He controlled around 25% of the world’s GDP at the time, which would translate to a staggering $21 trillion today.

The Mughals lived in luxury rivalled only the Bourbons of France, the Hapsburg of Austria, the Romanov’s of Russia and the emperors of China. So impressed were the British by the wealth of the Mughals, the word “Mughal” entered the English language as a term to describe an all-powerful ruler of industry, films or other endeavour. Some historians even say, Mughals had a GDP per capita, compared to Elizabeth of England

The seat of power of the Mughal empire was the “Peacock Throne.” It had in it background an image of a peacock with an expanded tail wrought in gold and precious stones. A gold divan surmounted by bejewelled peacocks was the symbol of Mughal power and wealth.

During Akbar’s period military  innovations in cannons, fortifications, and the use of elephants were introduced.

5. Augustus Caesar

• 63 BC-14 AD
• Roman emperor
• Estimated wealth: $4.6tn

The Roman emperor controlled vast stretches of land throughout the Roman empire controlling many states.  His  personal fortune was equivalent to 20% of the entire empire’s economy

Caesars wealth peaked when he owned Egypt as part of his personal private property.  During his period, Egypt contributed 25-30% of GDP and had some of the best agricultural land.

6. Amenhotep III

• 1388–1351 BC
• Pharoah of Egypt
• Estimated wealth: $4-6 trillion

During the 18th dynasty egypt was a global superpower both in military and trade.  His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power

Amemhotep was lucky, during his reign there where no wars and Egypt’s weapon trade was at an all-time height. He kept all money inside the family so when his mother who controlled most of the wealth died he became head of the family. This gave him literally all land in egypt giving him a total wealth 4 to 6 trillion USD.

The high estimate makes him the wealthiest man in history and the low estimate makes him the second wealthiest after Augustus Caesar (4,2 trillion)

7. King Solomon

• 970 – 931 BCE
• King of Israel
• Estimated:  $2.2 trillion

King Solomon’s riches came from taxation, trade and tributes.  According to the Bible, King Solomon during his rule he is said to have received 25 tons of gold for each of the 39 years of his reign.

In a single year, according to 1 Kings 10:14, Solomon collected tribute amounting to 666 talents(18,125 kilograms) of gold.  Solomon is described as surrounding himself with all the luxuries and the grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered.

The Hebrew Bible credits him as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem, using the vast wealth he and his father had accumulated. He dedicated the King Solomon’s temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Royal Wealth in Modern Times

How much is enough? Lets go bit further above trillions

Extreme Wealth in Numbers

These are the pinnacles of extreme wealth. Such wealth cannot be found in earth, unless human venture out to space colonies in search of vast riches.

Sources: MSN, Visual Capitalist, Wiki