There was a time when Mansa Musa, the monarch of West Africa, was the richest person on Earth.
Today, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bernard Arnaut compete for the title. However, the ninth sultan of the Keita dynasty still remains as the world's wealthiest individual to have ever lived, USA Today reported.
Musa was born in 1280 AD into a family of rulers and came to power in 1312 AD.
He had so much wealth that experts describe it as incalculable, or unimaginable. His wealth is estimated to be equivalent to modern day $400 billion.
According to BBC, Musa and his empire owned almost half of the old world’s gold. He is credited for funding and encouraging literature, education, architecture and the arts. He built several schools, libraries and mosques.
Musa revitalised the cities in his kingdom and made architectural developments in the region in collaboration with Islamic scholars, whom he paid up to 200kg in gold for their efforts.
He was succeeded by his sons after his death in 1337 at the age of 57. Eventually, his empire fell apart.
As per History.com, Musa made the "most extravagant pilgrimage in human history" to Makkah from 1324-1325 AD. His caravan consisted of 60,000 men and women all decked in head-to-toe in Persian silk and gold brocade while 100 camels carried bags of pure gold.
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