How the World’s Richest Person in Every Decade Made Their Fortune (2025)

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A little over a century ago, in 1916, legendary robber baron John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first billionaire — probably. Before the age of computerized records and the internet, measuring the wealth of the world’s 1% was a tedious, painstaking and inexact science — but even back then, some people were just too rich not to take notice.

Every decade, a giant emerges with a fortune so vast that it redefines the concept of wealth. Here’s a look at the richest person in every decade of the 20th and 21st centuries.

1900s: Andrew Carnegie

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $309 billion

According to Entrepreneur, immigrant and industrialist Andrew Carnegie sold his Carnegie Steel company to J.P. Morgan for $480 million in 1901, making him the richest person in the world in the 20th century’s inaugural decade.

The Carnegie Corporation cites his peak wealth at $309 billion, most of which he gave away to charitable causes.

1910s-1930s: John D. Rockefeller

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $31.89 billion

John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in 1870 and cornered America’s oil market. He was the world’s richest man by the end of the 19th century until Carnegie’s epic deal with Morgan knocked him off his perch — but only briefly.

Not only was Rockefeller the world’s richest man again by the 1910s, but on Sept. 29, 1916, newspapers across the country anointed him the country’s first billionaire when his Standard Oil shares soared in value, putting him over the historic 10-figure mark.

According to the Washington Post, Rockefeller’s vast wealth accounted for an eye-popping 2.5% of America’s GDP. However, there is an ongoing dispute among historians as to whether he ever actually crossed the $1 billion mark. The Wall Street Journal pegged his fortune at closer to $900 million.

Like Carnegie, Rockefeller was a titan of not just industry, but also philanthropy. The Wall Street Journal estimates he gave away more than $500 million — around $16 billion in today’s money — before his death in 1937.

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1940s: Henry Ford

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $21.65 billion

According to Money, some historians believe mass production pioneer and automobile magnate Henry Ford was the world’s first billionaire, not Rockefeller. Others argue that his wealth might have even surpassed Rockefeller’s while Rockefeller was still alive. For example, organizations like Philanthropy Roundtable estimate his net worth was $1.2 billion by the mid-1920s.

1950s-1970s: J. Paul Getty

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $8.24 billion to $11.78 billion

In 1957, Fortune announced a change of the financial guard when it proclaimed American oil baron Jean Paul Getty as the richest man in the world, estimating his net worth at $700 million to $1 billion.

According to Forbes, Getty spearheaded an oil deal with Saudi Arabia in the 1960s that secured his spot as the richest person on earth for another decade.

Getty retained his title in the 1970s, but in that decade, the Getty name became as synonymous with its sensational family drama as it did with its fabulous wealth. According to Forbes, the tabloid fodder peaked when gangsters kidnapped Getty’s grandson, and the notoriously frugal Getty refused to pay the ransom until the kidnappers cut off the boy’s ear. But even then, Getty only loaned the ransom money to his son — with interest.

1980s: Yoshiaki Tsutsumi

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $55.57 billion

In the 1980s, the decade when the famous Forbes 400 list debuted, Japan’s Yoshiaki Tsutsumi inherited his father’s sprawling Seibu Corporation and built a real estate empire that made him the decade’s richest person.

He was the first person to earn the top spot on the Forbes 400 list — although the publication ranked him in tight competition with drug lord Pablo Escobar in the late ’80s — and CelebrityNetWorth estimated his peak wealth at $20 billion.

1990s: The Walton Family

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $267 billion

Although Bill Gates would begin an epic run as the king of Billionaire Hill in the decade’s closing years, Walmart ruled the 1990s, and the Walton family — heirs to founder Sam Walton — emerged as the country’s leading family of fortune. According to Forbes, the Waltons are still America’s wealthiest family.

2000s: Bill Gates

• Peak wealth adjusted for inflation: $189.47 billion

In terms of building and guarding wealth, no one has ever done it quite as well as Bill Gates. The Microsoft co-founder spent nearly two decades in either the No. 1 or No. 2 spots on the Forbes 400 list of the world’s richest people. According to Forbes, his net worth briefly peaked at over $100 billion at the height of the dot-com bubble in 1999.

2010s: Jeff Bezos

• Current wealth: $222.1 billion

Bill Gates and Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim spent much of the 2010s competing for the title of richest person in the world. However, in the decade’s closing years, Jeff Bezos redefined the concept when he ushered in the age of the centi-billionaire. According to Forbes, he closed out 2018, 2019 and 2020 with list-leading 12-figure wealth.

2020s: Elon Musk

• Current wealth: $323.3 billion

Elon Musk hasn’t yet occupied Mars, but the Tesla founder does occupy the No. 1 spot on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people. In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, Musk became the first person ever to eclipse $300 billion, making him richer than even Andrew Carnegie in terms of real-world purchasing power.