The richest man who ever lived was this African emperor

Although the current list of the richest people in the world is almost all made up of great entrepreneurs, it is not one of them that ranks first when we consider the whole history of humanity. Adjusting wealth to present values, this title goes to Malian Mansa Musa.

As emperor of Mali during the 14th century, Mansa Musa amassed a fortune that today would amount to an impressive $ 400 billion. Much of this money came mainly from Mali's large mines, which accounted for half of the gold circulating in Africa, Europe and Asia.

Arrival to the throne

Mansa Musa ascended the throne of Mali after being appointed deputy by the former emperor, who traveled on an expedition to explore the Atlantic Ocean and never returned. Musa was named as the tenth emperor and led the Mali Empire during its economic boom.

In addition to gold, the ruler's wealth came from the buildings he promoted at the time, mainly from large mosques, madrasas (Islamic study houses) and universities, including Sankore University, which is still in operation today. The emperor also controlled more than half of all the salt in the world, which gave him giant bargaining power when dealing with European merchants.

According to historical accounts of the time, the city of Tombuctu - also known for its English spelling, Timbuktu - was one of the best quality places in the world and a meeting place for scholars from all over Africa, who would visit the universities and libraries of the Mali Empire.

Pilgrimage to Mecca

One of the most striking cases of Mansa Musa's reign, and which illustrates well all the emperor's power and wealth, is that of his pilgrimage to Mecca. Like every devout Muslim, Musa should visit the holy city of Islam at least once during his lifetime. When he decided to do so, he led a procession of 60, 000 people as a company.

One of the duties of all these people was to carry the more than 5 tons of gold that Musa was giving to the poor along the way. It was so much gold distributed by the emperor that the metal began to lose value, damaging the economy of every place he passed, especially in the cities of Cairo and Medina.

During the trip back to Mali, Musa saw the damage he had done and tried to remedy the situation by borrowing gold from local merchants. The loans reduced the amount of metal in the market and restored the economy of these cities.

There is still much discussion about Mansa Musa's death. All that is known for certain is that his reign ended in 1332, although the records make it unclear whether he died or just resigned. In the decades after his departure, internal wars eventually brought the Mali Empire to decay and left those times of glory in the past.