Who is the richest person who ever lived?
In 2023, Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault have vied for the top spot, each floating around the $200 billion mark as their underlying businesses’ stock prices fluctuate. Today, there are between seven and ten centibillionaires in the world, depending on what week you take a look.
These guys look like amateur clowns compared to John D Rockefeller, though. When he died in 1937, he was so rich that he owned about 1.5% of the entire U.S. economy. In today's money, that would be around $350 billion.
There’s one other contender, though, and there’s a strong case to be made that this fella was much, much richer than even Rockefeller. The best way to demonstrate this is by zooming in on a religious journey—the hajj—so we can see some of this wealth on prominent display.
I’ve asked
, who runs to help me tell today’s tale. Check out his stuff when you’re done here! He works hard to bring attention to underserved communities, and I have learned a lot by reading and discussing some of these stories with Edwin.A Legendary Hajj
While Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 was ostensibly spiritual in nature, there was a secondary, important component: to display an unbelievable amount of wealth to the world.
It also had a profound economic impact.
Primary sources from Arab writers suggest that Mansa Musa's hajj expedition was made up of thousands of people as well as dozens of camels carrying nearly 300 pounds of gold.
Thousands of people traversing through desert landscapes, dozens of camels each shouldering hundreds of pounds of gold. Paint the scene in your mind with us.
When Mansa Musa stopped his caravan in Cairo, he met with the Sultan of Egypt. His stopover and presence in Egypt for a while led to the caravan spending and donating much of the gold to the local residents.
Musa’s generosity was a financial earthquake for Egypt. He brought so much gold into the country that:
…during the next 12 years, after the departure of Mansa Musa and his entourage from Egypt, the value of gold declined drastically.
Musa's grandiosity and benevolence sent ripples well beyond the African continent, with tales of his incomprehensible wealth and generosity making their way to Europe. The Mali Empire’s place in history was secure.
Immortalized in Maps
Mansa Musa's legendary hajj wasn't just a fleeting spectacle. Here he is depicted in the Catalan Atlas, a significant cartographic work from 1375.
“His visionary and administrative aptitudes attracted Spanish cartographers who later drew Catalan Atlas in 1375 C.E depicting Mansa Musa as wealthy, powerful, and influential in West Africa.”
This wasn't just a casual mention in a corner of a map. It was also an affirmation of Musa's global impact. The Catalan Atlas serves as a historical testament to how Mansa Musa was viewed: as an emblem of wealth, power, and influence, not just in Africa, but in the world at large.
As Edwin points out, "The famous, artistic map showcases a rich Islamic culture of the kingdom of Mali as well as political and ethnic composition of the empire." It wasn't just Musa who was immortalized, but the entire Mali Empire, celebrated for its rich cultural and political landscape.
Here’s the Catalan Atlas in full, across several panels:
The Man Behind the Gold
Under Mansa Musa's rule, the city of Timbuktu transformed into a global center for Islamic scholarship. “He established Timbuktu and Gao as an Islamic cultural center by ushering in architects as well as scholars drawn from the larger Middle East region,” Edwin explains.
"Though the kingdom of Mali was already rich when Mansa Musa started ruling, it was his efforts of trade expansion across Africa that made the kingdom extremely rich in the continent." Musa was not content to sit on his wealth. "Thanks to his development-oriented vision, the kingdom of Mali turned out to be influential and famous across and outside Africa."
Unsurprisingly, his passing left a void that was difficult to fill. Edwin notes that "the demise of Mansa Musa in 1337 led to a leadership vacuum," and "his administrative and trading skills were missed and the empire slowly disintegrated into oblivion."
But even Musa’s legend lived on, “highly embodied as an epitome of richness and powerful kingdom of Mali across West Africa."
Real Wealth?
Mansa Musa stands as a colossal figure, with wealth was so immense it's almost incomprehensible. But as Edwin aptly puts it, “Mansa Musa was not just wealthy in gold but in wisdom and vision.”
His legacy continues to reverberate today, in spite of me never hearing about him or his life when I was growing up. It’s not just in textbooks or articles like this one, but also in the educational and cultural institutions he left behind that Mansa Musa’s legacy lives on.
Wealth, in its most impactful form, transcends material assets. It is the legacy of culture, wisdom, and influence that truly endures.
Did you know about Mansa Musa prior to reading this piece? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to check out
’s work!
Well put Andrew. The story of Mansa Musa is a story of ahead-of-his-time, intellectually. With no planes and technology that we have at our disposal in the modern world, his distinct intellect enabled him to create enormous wealth in the 14th century. This read is worthy of my time and your time. Check on Andrew Smith's Goatfury newsletter
I can honestly say I wasn't familiar with Mansa Musa up to this point, so that was quite enlightening!