List_of_richest_Americans_in_history

List of richest Americans in history

List of richest Americans in history

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Most sources agree that, adjusting for inflation, John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) was the richest man in the United States.[1][2][3]

For contemporary lists, see List of wealthiest Americans by net worth.

Business magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller is widely considered the wealthiest American in history.

There are various methods of comparing individuals' wealth across time, including using simple inflation-adjusted totals or calculating an individual's wealth as a share of contemporary gross domestic product (GDP). For example, economic blogger Scott Sumner noted in 2018 that Rockefeller was worth $1.4 billion when he died in 1937, about $24 billion in dollars adjusted to 2018. Meanwhile, Bill Gates in 1999 was worth nearly $150 billion in dollars adjusted to 2018.[4]

The second-richest person in terms of wealth vs. contemporary GDP is disputed. Most sources list Andrew Carnegie, but others say Bill Gates, Cornelius Vanderbilt I, John Jacob Astor IV, or Henry Ford. Lower ranks are a matter of even bigger debate. Vanderbilt left a fortune worth $100 million upon his death in 1877 ($2,400,000,000 today[5]). As the United States became the world's foremost economic power by the late 19th century, the wealthiest people in America were often also the wealthiest people in the world.

Fortune's wealthiest Americans (1957)

In 1957, Fortune magazine developed a list of the seventy-six wealthiest Americans, which was published in many American newspapers. Jean Paul Getty, when asked his reaction to being named wealthiest American and whether he was worth a billion dollars, said, "You know, if you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars" and then added, "But remember, a billion dollars isn't worth what it used to be."[6]

The second category, the second to eighth richest individuals, included Andrew Mellon's son, daughter, niece, and nephew. Wealthiest Americans included a total of seven members of the Rockefeller family, five members of the Ford family, four members of the Du Pont family (and a non-family DuPont executive), and four General Motors executives.


$400,000,000 to $700,000,000

$200,000,000 to $400,000,000

$100,000,000 to $200,000,000

$75,000,000 to $100,000,000

Klepper and Gunther (1996)

In the 1996 book The Wealthy 100, authors Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther placed John D. Rockefeller atop the list of the richest Americans in history, followed by Cornelius Vanderbilt and John Jacob Astor.[7] Bill Gates was the top living person, coming in fifth.

American Heritage (1998)

American Heritage magazine published the following list of 40 richest Americans ever in 1998, subtitling it "Surprise: Only three of them are alive today".[8] The list was compiled by taking each person's wealth at death, adding the amount given away during his lifetime, and expressing the total as a fraction of the nation's GDP at the time.

  1. John D. Rockefeller
  2. Andrew Carnegie
  3. Cornelius Vanderbilt
  4. John Jacob Astor
  5. Bill Gates
  6. Stephen Girard
  7. Alexander Turney Stewart
  8. Frederick Weyerhauser
  9. Jay Gould
  10. Marshall Field
  11. Sam Walton
  12. Henry Ford
  13. Warren Buffett
  14. Andrew W. Mellon
  15. Richard B. Mellon
  16. James Graham Fair
  17. William Weightman
  18. Moses Taylor
  19. Russell Sage
  20. John Insley Blair
  21. Cyrus H. K. Curtis
  22. Paul Allen
  23. J. P. Morgan
  24. E. H. Harriman
  25. Henry Huddleston Rogers
  26. Oliver Hazard Payne
  27. Henry Clay Frick
  28. Collis Potter Huntington
  29. Peter Arrell Browne Widener
  30. Nicholas Longworth
  31. Philip Danforth Armour
  32. James Clair Flood
  33. Mark Hopkins Jr.
  34. Edward Cabot Clark
  35. Leland Stanford
  36. Hetty Green
  37. James J. Hill
  38. William Rockefeller
  39. Elias Hasket Derby
  40. Claus Spreckels

Bernstein and Swan (2008)

Bernstein and Swan in All the Money in the World (2008) mention the 15 richest Americans in history.[9]

  1. John D. Rockefeller
  2. Andrew Carnegie
  3. Cornelius Vanderbilt
  4. John Jacob Astor
  5. Stephen Girard
  6. Richard B. Mellon
  7. A. T. Stewart
  8. Frederick Weyerhäuser
  9. Marshall Field
  10. Sam Walton
  11. Jay Gould
  12. Henry Ford
  13. Bill Gates
  14. Andrew W. Mellon
  15. Warren Buffett

Business Insider (2011)

Business Insider agreed on Rockefeller in first, but placed Andrew Carnegie second, followed by Vanderbilt, and Gates.[10]

  1. John D. Rockefeller
  2. Andrew Carnegie
  3. Cornelius Vanderbilt
  4. Bill Gates
  5. John Jacob Astor
  6. Stephen Girard
  7. A. T. Stewart
  8. Frederick Weyerhäuser
  9. Jay Gould
  10. Stephen Van Rensselaer
  11. Marshall Field
  12. Sam Walton
  13. Warren Buffett

CNN Money (2014)

The following is a list compiled by CNN Money in 2014.[11]

  1. John D. Rockefeller
  2. Cornelius Vanderbilt
  3. John Jacob Astor
  4. Stephen Girard
  5. Richard Mellon
  6. Andrew Carnegie
  7. Stephen Van Rensselaer
  8. A. T. Stewart
  9. Frederick Weyerhäuser
  10. Jay Gould
  11. Marshall Field
  12. Bill Gates
  13. Henry Ford
  14. Warren Buffett
  15. Andrew Mellon
  16. Sam Walton
  17. Moses Taylor
  18. Russell Sage
  19. James G. Fair
  20. William Weightman

By half decade

This list names the richest American by half decade starting in 1770.[12]

More information Year, Name ...

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