List of richest Americans in history
Assessing who was the richest American in history is hard. The value of money and assets changes a lot over time, and different methods give different results. Common approaches are inflation-adjusted totals or comparing wealth to the size of the economy at that time. Because of this, there isn’t one final ranking.
Highlights:
- Rockefeller often cited as the richest American when wealth is shown as a share of the era’s economy. He had about $1.4 billion at his death in 1937, roughly $24 billion in today’s dollars.
- Bill Gates had about $150 billion in 1999 in 2018 dollars—one of the largest ever for a living person.
- The second-wealthiest spot is debated. Carnegie is often listed second, but others like Gates, Vanderbilt, Astor, or Ford are sometimes placed there.
- Vanderbilt left about $100 million when he died in 1877, around $2.4 billion today.
- As the U.S. economy grew to be the world’s largest by the late 19th century, many of America’s richest were also the richest people in the world.
Notable lists:
- In 1957 Fortune listed 76 wealthiest Americans; Getty joked about what a billion dollars means.
- The richest families often included several Rockefellers, Fords, and Du Ponts, plus top General Motors executives.
- In 1996, The Wealthy 100 had Rockefeller first, Carnegie second, Vanderbilt third, and Gates as the top living person (fifth overall).
- In 1998, American Heritage listed 40 richest Americans ever (only three were alive then).
- Bernstein and Swan (2008) cover the top 15 in history.
- Business Insider and CNN Money have varied lists in different years; Rockefeller usually leads, followed by Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Gates.
Overall, because money and economies change so much, there’s no single definitive ranking of the richest Americans in history.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:14 (CET).