Mansa Musa and Timbuktu - The Emperor of Wealthy Mali Empire Who Gave Gold Away #941967

When you think about the richest person who ever lived, who comes to mind? Maybe Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or some oil magnate from the past century. But none of them even come close to Mansa Musa, the 14th-century emperor of Mali whose wealth was so immense that historians struggle to put a number on it. Some estimates place his fortune at around $400 billion in today's money, but even that feels inadequate when you read the accounts of his legendary generosity.
What makes Mansa Musa's story so compelling isn't just the gold, though there was plenty of it. It's what he did with that wealth. In 1324, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca that would become the stuff of legend, traveling with a caravan of 60,000 people and so much gold that he literally changed the economy of every region he passed through. Imagine having so much wealth that your act of charity crashes the gold market for over a decade, that's the kind of impact we're talking about here.