Big Money

The richest Americans in history

4. Stephen Girard

richest americans
  • Adjusted wealth*: $120 billion
  • Lived: 1750-1831

The French-born Girard started as a cabin boy working the Europe-Caribbean trade route, and became a sea captain by the age of 23. Eventually he owned a fleet of trading ships.

He went on to settle in Philadelphia and used his shipping wealth to become a financier, buying banks and lending money to the U.S. government during the war of 1812. While some of his business practices were thought to have been unscrupulous, he left nearly his entire fortune to charity when he died.

First published June 2, 2014: 6:18 PM ET
Source: *Most nominal wealth estimates are from The Wealthy 100 by Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther, and include wealth at time of death, including bequests. Estimates were then calculated as a fraction of the overall economy at time of death by Sam Williamson of Measuring Worth, and then presented in 2013 dollars based on the size of the current U.S. economy. Estimates for Gates and Buffett provided by Wealth-X.

Biographical information from The Wealthy 100 by Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther, Encyclopedia Britannica, and The Prize by Daniel Yergin.

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