Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, who Time magazine in 1937 called the richest man in the world, has made it to a list of the 25 richest people who ever lived.
The list by US website Celebrity Networth was compiled after adjusting the fortunes of people across history for inflation.
“It was finalised after adjusting for inflation to bring fortunes into 2012 dollars. For example, $100 million in 1913 is $2,299.63 billion in 2012, thanks to inflation,“ the compilers said.
The 25 richest people who ever lived had a combined fortune of $4.317 trillion, and 14 are/were American. The list includes Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu.
The last Nizam, who died in 1967 aged 80, was ranked sixth, with $230 billion. “Mir Osman Ali Khan had a personal gold collection worth $100 million, and owned $400 million-worth jewels, including the famous Jacob Diamond, worth $95 million today. Khan used the diamond as a paperweight in his office. He supposedly owned more than 50 Rolls-Royces,” the website said.
Predictably, the richest ever list has only men. No woman entered the top 25.