Black history: Mansa Musa richest black man in history

King Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa is the richest black man in history.

In 2013, a list was compiled of the 10 richest black people in the world:


  1. Robert L. Johnson- $550 million
  2. Sean Combs-$550 million
  3. Michael Jordan-$650 million
  4. Mo Ibrahim-$1.6 billion
  5. Isabel De Santos- $2 billion
  6. Oprah Winfrey -$2.8 billion
  7. Patrice Motsepe – $$2.9 billion
  8. Mike Adenuga – $4.7 billion
  9. Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi – $13.5 billion
  10. Alhaji Aliko Dangote – $16.1 billion

Seven hundred years ago, that list would’ve been topped  by King Mansa Musa, the richest black man in history.  Musa lived from 1280 – 1337 A.D., and ruled over the Mali Empire. Today, his net worth is estimated to have been $400 billion. His kingdom included Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali and produced half of the salt and gold in the world at that time. When he went on his pilgrimage to Mecca, he gave away so much gold  that the price of gold dropped worldwide. Even though it has been more than 700 years since he walked this earth, some of the monuments he commissioned still stand.


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