Mansa Musa – The Richest Human Being Who Ever Lived, Worth $400
Billion
When we think of the wealthiest people in the world, we most often
think of the Waltons (of Wal-Mart fame), Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates .
However, if you go a bit further back in history, you’ll discover that
the wealth of the kings, queens, and rulers of yesteryear trumps the
bank accounts of most modern day millionaires and even billionaires
by a mile.
In fact, during his time, one man controlled more wealth than Bill
Gates, Warren Buffett, and the most wealthy member of the Walton
family, Sam Walton, combined. That man was Mansa Musa I. With an
adjusted net worth of approximately $400 billion , Musa is without a
doubt the richest man to have ever lived. So who was he? And why
haven’t you heard more about him?
Emperor Mansa Musa I, also known as Musa of Mali (Mansa actually
means “King of Kings”), was born in Mali, sometime in the 1280s.
Mansa Musa came to be king in a rather roundabout way. His
grandfather, Abu Bakr, was the brother of Sundiata Keita, the man
who founded the Malian Empire. Neither Abu Bakr or his son, Faga
Laye, ever took the throne, and Mansa Musa was appointed deputy
ruler if the king ever went on an extended trip or pilgrimage to Mecca.
He was appointed deputy under Abubakari II, who had visions of
exploring the far reaches of the Atlantic Ocean.
Abubakari sent 200 boats out into the sea, ordering they not return
from their voyage until they had reached the far side of the Atlantic,
or until they ran out of food and water, whichever came first. Quite a
long time later, one boat returned, with tales of a great whirlpool that
had drowned everyone. Abubakari didn’t believe the captain’s story,
so he took 2,000 boats, and appointing himself head of the
expedition, set off to find the truth. As the King’s deputy, Mansa
Musa became ruler in his absence. Abubakari II never returned, and
Mansa Musa eventually inherited the throne.
Much of Musa’s wealth came from the production of mosques,
madrsasas, and universities, many of which are still standing today.
The University of Sankore was built during his time, and is still in
existence. The quality of life in urban centers, such as Timbuktu, was
vastly superior to other parts of the world at the time, largely due to
the availability of work, and Musa’s control of the gold and salt
trades.
When traveling throughout his kingdom on the way to Mecca in 1324,
his procession included 60,000 people. Along the way, 12,000 of his
followers carried four-pound gold bars, which he gave away to the
poor everywhere he went. Unfortunately, this devalued the gold,
especially in Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, and Musa subsequently
borrowed as much gold as he could from money lenders in Cairo, even
though it was loaned at a high interest rate.
As a result, he now controlled the price of gold for all of the
Mediterranean. He also controlled more than half of the world’s salt
supply. Between his gold and his salt, traders from as far away as
Europe made annual trips to his kingdom from Venice, Granada, and
Genoa, and this gave him the power to set prices as high he wanted.
In 1330, Mossi invaded Timbuktu, which Musa had annexed in 1325.
He quickly recaptured the city, fortifying its boundary with a fort and a
standing army. As a major seat for trade in the region, control of
Timbuktu meant control of the flow of money. During his reign, Mali
grew to have more than 400 bustling cities. Muslim scholars from
abroad flocked to the University of Sankore to study, and Musa
controlled everything from his massive palace in Timbuktu, which was
constructed by architects imported from Andalusia in Spain. He also
created one large system of government for most of the Western
Sudan. Under his rule, the region was said to exist in “complete and
general safety.”
Records of how Musa died vary greatly, so it’s unclear whether he
died soon after returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca, or whether he
continued to live for another ten years. His son, Mansa Maghan,
became ruler in 1332, and his older brother, Mansa Suleyman,
became ruler in 1336. Mansa Musa’s period of rule is recorded as 25
years, but whether his reign ended in 1332 because of his death, or
his resignation, remains unclear. What is clear, is that for over two
decades, one man almost single-handedly controlled a massively
wealthy empire with multiple major trading ports.
Today, there aren’t any billionaires who could command 12,000
people to carry four-pound bricks of gold on an incredibly long walk.
Or even billionaires who could affect the price of gold by simply being
in charge. Mansa Musa was not only the wealthiest man to ever live,
but arguably the most powerful. This may be a good part of the
reason his story is skimmed over in most textbooks. That aside,
Mansa Musa is a clear, and perhaps rare example, of a very wealthy
individual who held at least an equal amount of power to go along
with it.
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