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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is Elon Musk the richest person in human history?

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

By Austin Tannenbaum

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While measurements of net worth are inexact, there are individuals widely believed to have possessed more wealth than Elon Musk, whose net worth, derived from the value of companies he helped build, peaked at $340 billion in November 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Ancient rulers form the bulk of those wealthier than Musk. Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, whose control of powerful states allowed him to amass personal riches, may have had a net worth as high as $4.6 trillion. Mansa Musa, who ruled the gold-rich Mali Empire in the early 1300s, possessed an estimated $415 billion. Visual Capitalist notes these are rough figures given the difficulty of valuing historical wealth in current U.S. dollars.

In the modern world, oil magnate John D. Rockefeller amassed as much as $400 billion, according to Investopedia. This estimate is a measure of net worth as a percentage of GDP.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Bloomberg Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Elon Musk

Visual Capitalist The Richest People in Human History, to the Industrial Revolution

Investopedia Who Is the Richest Person Ever?

Harvard Business School John D. Rockefeller: The Richest Man in the World

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.