John D Rockefeller the richest man in the world?

Answer 1

He used to be, if he kept his net worth of $1 billion in 1900, he would be worth $150 billion today! He excelled at the oil industry and since he was the first man to roll his dice and get a good roll in the oil industry, little competition and a big need and a huge supply added up to a billion dollars in 1900!

The term "Richest Person in the world" is hard to determine for any number of reasons. adjustment for inflation, adjustment for type of worth. i.e. Solomon of The Bible was worth a lot, but in what? money of the time, Jewels, etc. As far As John D. Rockefeller, was concerned; He was the Richest American of his time for sure. In terms of US dollars. He had about 1.4 Billion in 1937 dollars of Nominal Money (Actual cash he could spend) that works out to about 22 Billion in 2012 dollars. However that was not his Net worth (properties, business, stocks, etc.) adding that in the estimates range from 300 to 600 Billion in 2012 dollars. It is noteworthy that he was touted as the first American Billionaire. But that Honor was also given to Howard Hughes. However the Hughes moniker would actually be the first American Multi Billionaire as he died with a nominal worth of about 3 Billion US dollars in 1973 dollars.