The Wealthiest Traders Before There Was A Stock Market
Marcus Licinius Crassus (115 BC – 53 BC)
Traded property and soldiers
Marcus Crassus was a Roman general and politician but is most famously know as the individual who brought down the legendary Spartacus. Crassus ruled Rome with Julius Caesar as part of the first Triumvirate. Crassus was a property trader however, things were a little different back then. If someone in our times wants to trade property there is a certain amount of red tape to go through. Crassus didnt have time for that stuff. When in power he took to seizing the property of criminals who had been put to death. If no rich criminals were up for execution any time soon, he would accuse random rich guys of crimes and just confiscate their stuff and then kill them.
Crassus was good at enforcing laws, just not when they applied to him. He was the original honey-badger and just took what he wanted whenever he wanted it. Thats how they rolled in the B.C. times I guess. His fortune in todays dollars is estimated a 2 trillion dollars, that smokes Bill Gates 80 Billion net worth.
Musa, Mansa (1280-1337)
Traded Salt and Gold
Musa’s wealth came from his country’s vast production of more than half the world’s supply of salt and gold. At the time of Musa’s rise to the throne, the Malian Empire, now know as West Africa, was the largest and wealthiest empire of its time. Musa had so much bank he would roll around town with 500 servants, carrying a 4-pound staff of gold each, and 80 camels carrying 300 pounds of gold each. He just knew how to put on a show.His pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324–25 brought Mali fame throughout the world.His gifts of gold in Cairo were so lavish that the metal was devalued in Egypt.
Musa is widely regarded as the richest human being in all history with an estimated net worth of 7 Trillion dollars. Nobody alive today even comes close to that.
Jacob Fugger (1459 – 1525)
Traded Textiles, Spices and Banking services
Jacob Fugger was a German banker who inherited a trade and banking business from his father. The foundation of the family’s wealth was created mainly by the textile trade with Italy. Jacob led a consortium of German and Italian businessmen that loaned Charles V gold in order to secure his election as Holy Roman Emperor. Charles would then go on to give the Fugger family noble rank and grant them sovereign rights over their lands – also allowing them to mint their own money, kinda like what our government does now.
Fugger was a true entrepreneur. This guy traded everything. He traded mercury and silver to Spain, Sweeden and Norway. Traded Spices to Peru and Chile and Imported Hungarian cattle.
Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777 – 1836)
The first Financial Adviser
Nathan Mayer Rothschild was a London financier and one of the founders of the international Rothschild family banking dynasty. His father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, is referred to as the founding father of international finance. Nathan, along with his four brothers, controlled finance and information across the entire continent of Europe.
Rothschild was part of the biggest bank in the world which dominated the international bond market. For a modern day equivalent his bank was the size of Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, J P Morgan and Goldman Sachs combined! Rothschild had so much cash he financed the war against Napoleon.
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