The Hyderabad Nizam was richest Indian who lived? Yes, by a big margin
NEW DELHI: Who has been the richest Indian ever? A Tata? A Birla? An Ambani? A Mittal? No, it was the Hyderabad Nizam.
At about $30 billion, the current richest Indian Mukesh Ambani is nowhere near this richest Indian who ever lived.
Osman Ali Khan, Hyderabad Nizam from 1886-1967, boasted of personal worth of $236 billion.
The Nizam, who didn’t want to join India after independence, had the richest collection of jewels ever reported in Indian history, including 25,000 diamonds and over 2,000 emeralds. The Indian government later bought the jewelry collection for $70 million.
The richest-ever Indian is sixth on the list of 24 richest people of all time prepared by the Celebrity Net Worth website.
Interestingly, the all-time richest person in the world is an obscure 14th century African King called Mansa Musa I of Mali. His personal worth in today’s dollars would be $400 billion, according to the list.
The world’s current richest man – Carlos Slim of Mexico worth $68 billion – ranks only 22nd on the list of the all-time richest people.
Col Muammar Gadhafi, the late dictator of Libya who died a terrible death at the hands of rebels last year, was the eighth richest person ever with his worth over $200 billion.
Here is the full list of the 24 richest people of all time:
1. Mansa Musa I, (Ruler of Malian Empire, 1280-1331) $400 billion
2. Rothschild Family (banking dynasty, 1740- ) $350 billion
3. John D Rockefeller (industrialist, 1839-1937) $340 billion
4. Andrew Carnegie (industrialist, 1835-1919) $310 billion
5. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (last Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918) $300 billion
6. Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (last ruler of Hyderabad, 1886-1967) $236 billion
7. William the Conqueror (King of England, 1028-1087) $229.5 billion
8. Muammar Gaddafi (former Libyan leader, 1942-2011) $200 billion
9. Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company founder, 1863-1947) $199 billion
10. Cornelius Vanderbilt (industrialist, 1794-1877) $185 billion
11. Alan Rufus (Fighting companion of William the Conqueror, 1040-1093) $178.65
12. Bill Gates (Founder of Microsoft, 1955- ) $136 billion
13. William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey (Norman nobleman, ??-1088) $146.13 billion
14. John Jacob Astor (businessman, 1864-1912) $121 billion
15. Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel (English nobleman, 1306-1376) £118.6 billion
16. John of Gaunt (son of Edward III, 1330-1399) £110 billion
17. Stephen Girard (shipping and banking mogul, 1750-1831) $105 billion
18. Alexander Turney Stewart (entrepreneur, 1803-1876) $90 billion
19. Henry, 1st Duke of Lancaster (English noble, 1310-1361) $85.1 billion
20. Friedrich Weyerhaeuser (timber mogul, 1834-1914) $80 billion
21. Jay Gould (railroad tycoon, 1836-1892) $71 billion
20. Carlos Slim (business magnate, 1940- ) $68 billion
21. Stephen Van Rensselaer (land owner, 1764- 1839) $68 billion
22. Marshall Field (Marshall Field & Company founder, 1834-1906) $66 billion
23. Sam Walton (Walmart founder, 1918-1992) $65billion
24. Warren Buffett (investor, 1930- ) $64billion
READ ALSO: Largest pink diamond Princie auctioned for $40 million
