Mansa Musa is believed to be the richest person in history with a wealth of more than $400 billion.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos (Image: (Image: GETTY))

During the 14th century, the emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, reigned supreme over the landlocked West African country.

He became known beyond Africa’s borders after assuming power in 1312 and becoming the first African ruler to gain fame in Europe and the Middle East, ruling until 1337.

With riches exceeding $400 billion, Mansa Musa is believed by historians to be the wealthiest individual in human history. The estimations of his wealth eclipse those of modern magnates; for comparison, as of 2024, Elon Musk has a net worth just shy of $304 billion, with Jeff Bezos at $219 billion.

Mali under Mansa Musa flourished through trade innovations, amassing wealth from gold, ivory, and salt. Rudolph Butch Ware, a professor at the University of California and an expert in West African history, told the BBC: “Contemporary accounts of Musa’s wealth are so breathless that it’s almost impossible to get a sense of just how wealthy and powerful he truly was.”

The lavish spending of Mansa Musa during his visit to Cairo supposedly depressed the value of gold by a staggering 20 percent, disrupting Egypt’s economy for over a decade.

Mansa Musa ascended to the throne after his predecessor, Mansa Abu Bakr II, embarked on a voyage to discover the edge of the Atlantic Ocean with a massive fleet of 2,000 ships and vanished without a trace. With an impressive army of around 100,000 men, including an armored cavalry corps of 10,000 horses and a skilled general, Mansa Musa was able to expand and sustain Mali’s vast empire, doubling its territory and making it second in size only to the Mongol Empire at that time.

Mansa Musa was seriously wealthy (Image: (Image: HistoryNmoor))

During his rule, the kingdom expanded as the new king annexed approximately 24 cities, extending the empire’s borders from the Atlantic in the east to what is now Niger in the west. A devout Muslim, Mansa Musa observed one of the five pillars of Islam by undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca.

In 1324, he embarked on his Hajj, traversing thousands of miles across perilous terrain with a retinue of 60,000 people, 21,000 kilograms of gold, 100 elephants, and 80 camels. Described as a city moving through the desert, each individual was adorned with gold finery, and even the slaves were dressed in Persian silk.

Mansa Musa brought back architects and scholars from his pilgrimage to Mecca who would construct mosques and universities that made cities like Timbuktu internationally renowned.

In Spain, a cartographer was moved to create the first detailed map of West Africa in Europe. The map, crafted around 1375, features Mansa Musa seated majestically on a throne, donning an extravagant golden crown, and clutching a golden staff in one hand and a massive nugget or sphere of gold in the other.

Mansa Musa (Image: (Image: Abraham Cresques))

Following his demise, Mansa Musa’s sons took over the throne, but the successors failed to maintain the empire which ultimately succumbed to the Moroccan Empire in 1670.