The five richest men of all time

Celeb

Alakija said: "I will make more money than King Solomon in the Bible. I am working towards that and with his grace, I will."

Well, contrary to biblical belief, King Solomon isn't the richest man to have ever lived. That honour belongs to an African ruler from Mali by the name of Mansa Musa.

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Just to put things in perspective, below is a list of the five richest men of all time.

1) Mansa Musa

With an estimated wealth of $400bn, Mansa Musa is largely regarded as the richest man who ever lived. The Malian ruler oversaw the Malian empire which stretched all the way to Ghana. Born in 1280, his empire was responsible for more than 50% of the world's salt and gold. This contributed to Musa's enormous wealth.

2) The Rothschild Family

This family is the richest family in the world with a wealth of $350bn. The great banking dynasty started with Amschel Rothschild who was born in 1744. He went on to establish a finance house and put his five sons in the five European business capitals to grow the family business. The turned out to be a success.

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3) John D Rockefeller

Born in 1839, John D Rockefeller was estimated to have $340bn in his lifetime. He entered the history books as the first American to have a net worth over $1bn. Rockefeller made his vast fortune from oil. After his retirement, the oil magnate would donate most of his fortune to universities and medical institutes.

Born in 1835, Andrew Carnegie was worth $310bn. Carnegie made his money from the steel industry in America. In 1901, he sold Carnegie Steel Company to JP Morgan for the sum of $480million. After retiring he donated his entire wealth to charity.

5) Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

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The aristocrat born Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov was the ruler of the Russian empire till 1917 when he abdicated the throne. During his reign, he had a net worth of $900m. Today with inflation as a factor, his worth is estimated at  $300bn.

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