The richest man to ever have lived

Jeff Bezos of Amazon may be the reigning man of the riches in the world currently, but he has nothing on the 14th century West African ruler Mansa Musa. Historians have found it impossible to pin down the number of his actual wealth. The ruler of Mali is believed to have had the half of the old world's gold alone. According to historians, the ruler had so much wealth that his generous handouts had wrecked an entire nation's economy.