List of richest Americans in history
Virtually all sources agree on John D. Rockefeller being the richest American in history.
The second place is disputed, held by Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Jacob Astor, Bill Gates or Henry Ford depending on the source; most sources agree on Carnegie. Further places are a matter of even bigger debate.
Given the economic rise of the United States of America since its origins, with America becoming the foremost economic power in the world by the late 19th century, the wealthiest men in America were often also the wealthiest men in the world.
Klepper & 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.[1] Bill Gates was the top living person, coming in fifth.
American Heritage 1998
American Heritage magazine published a list of 40 richest Americans ever in 1998.[2]
- John D. Rockefeller
- Andrew Carnegie
- Cornelius Vanderbilt
- John Jacob Astor
- Bill Gates
- Stephen Girard
- Alexander Turney Stewart
- Frederick Weyerhaeuser
- Jay Gould
- Marshall Field
- Sam Walton
- Henry Ford
- Warren Buffett
- Andrew W. Mellon
- Richard B. Mellon
- James Graham Fair
- William Weightman
- Moses Taylor
- Russell Sage
- John Insley Blair
- Cyrus H. K. Curtis
- Paul Allen
- J. P. Morgan
- E. H. Harriman
- Henry Huddleston Rogers
- Oliver Hazard Payne
- Henry Clay Frick
- Collis Potter Huntington
- Peter Arrell Browne Widener
- Nicholas Longworth
- Philip Danforth Armour
- James Clair Flood
- Mark Hopkins Jr.
- Edward Cabot Clark
- Leland Stanford
- Hetty Green
- James J. Hill
- William Rockefeller
- Elias Hasket Derby
- Claus Spreckels
CNNMoney
- John D. Rockefeller
- Cornelius Vanderbilt
- John Jacob Astor
- Stephen Girard
- Richard Mellon
- Andrew Carnegie
- Stephen Van Rensselaer
- A. T. Stewart
- Frederick Weyerhäuser
- Jay Gould
- Marshall Field
- Bill Gates
- Henry Ford
- Warren Buffett
- J. P. Morgan
- Sam Walton
- Moses Taylor
- Russell Sage
- James G. Fair
- William Weightman
Forbes (1998)
Forbes listed the richest Americans of all time in 1998.[3]
Business Insider
Business Insider agreed on Rockefeller in first, but placed Andrew Carnegie second, followed by Vanderbilt, and Gates.[4]
- John D. Rockefeller
- Andrew Carnegie
- Cornelius Vanderbilt
- Bill Gates
- John Jacob Astor
- Stephen Girard
- A. T. Stewart
- Frederick Weyerhäuser
- Jay Gould
- Stephen Van Rensselaer
- Marshall Field
- Sam Walton
- Warren Buffett
Bernstein & Swan 2008
Bernstein and Swan in All the Money in the World (2008) mention the 15 richest Americans of all time.[5]
- John D. Rockefeller
- Andrew Carnegie
- Cornelius Vanderbilt
- John Jacob Astor
- Stephen Girard
- Richard B. Mellon
- A. T. Stewart
- Frederick Weyerhäuser
- Marshall Field
- Sam Walton
- Jay Gould
- Henry Ford
- Bill Gates
- Andrew W. Mellon
- Warren Buffett
By half decade
This list names the richest American by half decade starting in 1770.[6]
Year | Name | Picture |
---|---|---|
1770 | Peter Manigault[7] | |
1775 | Robert Morris[8] | |
1780 | William Bingham[9] | |
1785 | Benjamin Franklin[10] | |
1790 | John Hancock[11] | |
1795 | Elias Hasket Derby[12] | |
1800 | Thomas Willing[13] | |
1805 | Stephen Girard[14] | |
1810 | ||
1815 | ||
1820 | ||
1825 | ||
1830 | ||
1835 | Stephen Van Rensselaer[15] | |
1840 | John Jacob Astor | |
1845 | ||
1850 | Cornelius Vanderbilt[16][17] | |
1855 | ||
1860 | ||
1865 | ||
1870 | ||
1875 | ||
1880 | William Henry Vanderbilt | |
1885 | ||
1890 | John D. Rockefeller[18][19] | |
1895 | ||
1900 | Andrew Carnegie | |
1905 | ||
1910 | John D. Rockefeller | |
1915 | ||
1920 | Henry Ford | |
1925 | ||
1930 | Andrew Mellon | |
1935 | ||
1940 | Henry Ford[20] | |
1945 | ||
1950 | H. L. Hunt[21] | |
1955 | J. Paul Getty | |
1960 | Howard Hughes | |
1965 | ||
1970 | ||
1975 | ||
1980 | Daniel Ludwig | |
1985 | Sam Walton | |
1990 | John Kluge[22] | |
1995 | Bill Gates[23] | |
2000 | ||
2005 | ||
2010 | ||
2015 |
References
- ^ "The Wealthiest Americans Ever". The New York Times. July 15, 2007.
- ^ Gibson, Christine (October 1998). "The American Heritage". American Heritage. Vol. 49, no. 6.
- ^ "Richest Americans in History". Forbes. August 24, 1998. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
- ^ Gus Lubin (April 17, 2011). "The 13 Richest Americans of All Time". Business Insider.
- ^ All the Money in the World (2008) by Bernstein and Swan, p. 17 "Introduction"
- ^ Klepper, Michael; Gunther, Michael (1996), The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates – A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, p. xii, ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8, OCLC 33818143
- ^ Heitzler, Michael James (2005). Goose Creek, South Carolina: A Definitive History 1670–2003. Vol. 1. Charleston, SC: The History Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-59629-055-6.
- ^ Kennedy, John (1894). Robert Morris and the Holland Purchase. Batavia, NY: J. F. Hall. p. 121.
- ^ Spingola, Deanna (2011). The Ruling Elite: a Study in Imperialism, Genocide and Emancipation. Bloomington, IN: Trafford Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4269-5462-7.
- ^ Gross, Daniel (April 1, 2002). "Finance & Investment: Cash of the Titans". Robb Report. Malibu, CA.
- ^ "Finance & Investment: Cash of the Titans".
- ^ Kellogg, Day Otis (1898). New American Supplement to the Latest Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2. New York, NY: The Werner Company. p. 1031.
- ^ Burke, James (2007). American Connections: The Founding Fathers. Networked. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. pp. 157–58. ISBN 978-0-7432-8226-0.
- ^ Phillips, Kevin (2002-06-18). Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of America's Rich. New York, NY: Broadway Books. p. Chapter 1. ISBN 9780767911511.
- ^ Jones, Abner Dumont (1854). The Illustrated American Biography. Vol. 2. New York, NY: J. Milton Emerson & Co. p. 463.
- ^ Buder, Stanley (2009). Capitalizing on Change: A Social History of American Business. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8078-3231-8.
Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877) succeeded Astor as the wealthiest American.
- ^ Kemp, Michael (2016). Uncommon Sense: Investment Wisdom Since the Stock Market's Dawn. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-7303-2424-9.
Consider also Cornelius Vanderbilt, the wealthiest American at the time of his death in 1877.
- ^ Li, Xiaobing; Molina, Michael (2014). Oil: A Cultural and Geographic Encyclopedia of Black Gold. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 335. ISBN 978-1-61069-271-7.
- ^ "America's Richest Man: J. D. Rockefeller and his Enormous Fortune". The Star. Canterbury, NZ. Detroit Free Press. April 6, 1895.
- ^ National Republic: A Monthly Review of American History, Policy, Politics and Public Affairs. Washington, DC: National Republic Publishing Co. 1940. p. 30.
The richest man in America is Henry Ford.
- ^ Knowles, Ruth Sheldon (1978). The Greatest Gamblers: The Epic of American Oil Exploration. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-8061-1513-9.
- ^ Miller, Stephen (September 9, 2010). "A One-Man Empire, From TV to Laundry". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Forbes magazine profile on Bill Gates". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.