Who had more money, John D. Rockefeller or Genghis Khan? It’s a simple question with a very difficult answer.
This ranking of the richest people of all time is based on hours of interviews with academic economists and historians. To read more about how the order was determined despite the difficulty of comparing wealth across a wide range of time periods and economic systems, read this.

But for now, suffice to say that the following is a rigorous but highly debatable attempt to list the wealthiest historical figures in order of their economic influence.

10. Genghis Kahn

9.   Bill Gates

8.    Alan Rufus (a.k.a. Alan the Red)

7.   John D. Rockefeller

6.   Andrew Carnegie

5.   Joseph Stalin

4.   Akbar I

3.   Emperor Shenzong

2.   Augustus Caesar

1.   Mansa Musa, the king of Timbuktu