The Billionaire Who Remained Unsurpassed Since Medieval Times
The modern Billionaires have long to go to meet his level of wealth!
The idea of becoming a billionaire is not new. Human being has always strived for acquiring more and more wealth to outdo others in this race. Some of them have achieved great wealth and some are yet to get there.
Today we are going to know about a billionaire who remained unsurpassed for about 800 years.
For all these eight centuries, Mansa Musa is the lone king of billionaire realm.
Yes, his name is Mansa Musa.
Here is a brief life history about this billionaire to know who he was. And I know it will amaze you to know his origin, given the modern backwardness of the area where he once lived.
Life of Mansa Musa
Musa was the emperor of the Great Mali Kingdom, from 1312 to 1337. He was born in about 1280 and died in 1337.
Mansa means ‘King’ in the African language of Mali, and his name was Musa.
So he is known in history as Mansa Musa.
Musa succeeded his uncle Abu Bakr II after he disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean.
Musa was a devoted Muslim and a warrior. He expanded his kingdom across the modern states of Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso.
He is known as the richest man ever lived across Africa and Europe. The world came to know his riches after his lavish pilgrim to Mecca to perform Hajj (One of the five pillars of Islam, a holy visit to the House of Allah “Kaaba”).
How he became a billionaire
He inherited an ample kingdom from his uncle in 1312-CE and ruled till 1337-CE. Most of his riches come from conquests.
Mali itself was rich in resources in gold and salt as well as ivory of elephants.
He also expanded his trade throughout the African continent which garnered him immense wealth the like of which was never seen in history.
His Pilgrimage
The world in general and Europe, in particular, came to know his riches after his expensive pilgrim to Mecca.
According to Ibne Khaldun, a contemporary historian of Mansa Musa related that he took 60,000 with him carrying bags and supplies, 500 slaves each carrying a golden staff and about a 100 camels each carrying 300 pounds of gold.
He travelled from Mali to Mecca, and during his journey; he stayed in many locations. In one of his stay in Cairo, he gave out gold to everyone so lavishly that the gold market did not recover its value for almost two decades.
Al Umari, a notable historian, visited Cairo 12 years after the visit of the king Musa, found that the people of the city still sang the praises of his visit.
His contribution
He was known for his generous nature and he gave gold, food and other valuable things to poor, needy and great gift to dignitaries he met on his journey.
He also made a great mosque in Timbuktu, Goa, from burnt bricks. The mosque stands still as a living testimony to his generosity and his love for Islam.
He also helped scholars and students in their teaching and learning endures and spent lavishly on them. He helped them financially to spread the message of Islam throughout the African continent.
The Death Of Mansa Mosa
Mosa died in 1337 in Mali and was succeeded by his sons. The great kingdom of Mali soon fell apart after his death. His fame lies not only in riches, but he is also known for the schools, madrasas, libraries and public buildings he left behind.
He is remembered in the world’s imagination as a symbol of wealth and fencibles riches.
According to historians, his wealth was incalculable. Even so, if modern economist put his net worth into the value, he was the owner of $900 billion at the time of his death.
Modern Billionaires
Jeff Bezos, an America, is the world top billionaire of the world and his wealth worth is $113 billion.
The second top in the world is American billionaire is Bill Gates and his net worth is $98 billion.
Bernard Arnault is the third billionaire who hails from France his net worth is $76 billion.
Warren Buffett is yet another American who has garnered a net worth of $67.5 billion.
Larry Ellison is another American whose net worth is $59 billion.
The total worth of all these top five billionaires by 2020 is $413.5 billion put together.
Put Mansa Musa’s net worth of $900 billion and minus $413.5 from it. You get the answer as $486.5 billion.
If we multiply the net worth of the top five modern billionaires’ worth by two, still it will fall short of Musa’s wealth.
Final Takeaways
Although making a billion dollars demand consistency, luck, hard work, new ideas to be implemented, and most of all, to give a lifetime to it.
Some billionaires inherited the riches, while others made it to the list by sheer hard work.
Both are worthy of admiration. But Mansa Musa was the person who inherited a well off the kingdom of Mali, but he wasn’t that rich at the time of inheriting the power.
He also struggled to find more gold and salt mines and to expand his trade network across the African continent. His trade caravans have been to Europe and Asia and brought riches for him.
The primary sources of his immense wealth were gold, diamond, salt and other precious metal mines.
He also invaded and conquered much of the African continent and made his fortune so great that even after all these centuries, one cannot estimate his wealth.
To surpass him is yet another story to be heard after thousands and thousands of years.
