28 of the richest Americans in history

SOURCE:Business Insider|BY:Kristine Villarroel

Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller has long been considered the wealthiest man in America's history, but Elon Musk is now wealthier. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images / ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images America has more billionaires than ever, led by Elon Musk, who's estimated to be worth $744.6 billion. Figures such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were known as the richest men of their time. Today's tech leaders, including Musk and Jeff Bezos, are among the richest Americans in history. America has never had as many billionaires as it does now. But how does the wealth of historic figures, such as the industrialists of the Gilded Age, compare to that of the richest people in 2025? In many historic calculations of net worth, individual fortunes weren't measured in isolation; instead, they were compared to the GDP of the US at the time. When the US economy was much smaller than it is today, the wealthiest families and individuals carried more weight in the economy than others during more prosperous times. One of the richest Americans of all time is widely considered to be Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, whose wealth, at its peak in 1937, was equal to 1.5% of the country's GDP. His estimated net worth would be around $499 billion today, when adjusted for inflation. Elon Musk's current wealth, however, is understood to have now eclipsed that of Rockefeller's. On December 29, Forbes estimated Musk's fortune to be $744.6 billion. To identify some of the richest Americans of all time, we consulted Forbes' 2007 list of history's wealthiest figures, based on estimates by economist Peter Bernstein. It calculated individuals' wealth at their peak and compared it to the country's GDP at the time to convert it to 2006 dollars. This was then adjusted to today's dollars using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator. For living individuals, we cited estimated net worths as reported by Forbes on December 29. While estimations of historic wealth may not be perfect, they help paint a picture of the level of wealth enjoyed by some of America's most notable figures in business, and put it into context with today's billionaires. Here are 28 of the wealthiest Americans in history. Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937) Bettmann via Getty Images Estimated net worth (2025 adjusted estimate): $82.5 billion Source of wealth: Banker and industrialist; heir to the Mellon banking dynasty Henry Ford (1863-1947) Getty Images/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $88.8 billion Source of wealth: Automaker; founder of Ford Motor Company Jay Gould (1836-1892) Bettmann/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $95.1 billion Source of wealth: Railroad financier and speculator Sam Walton (1918-1992) Paul Matthews/Fairfax Media via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $95.8 billion Source of wealth: Retail entrepreneur; founder of Walmart Marshall Field (1834-1906) Bettmann/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $98.2 billion Source of wealth: Retail magnate; founder of Marshall Field & Company Bill Gates SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Net worth: $104 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; co-founder of Microsoft Michael Bloomberg PAC NYC/Getty Images Net worth: $109.4 billion Source of wealth: Financial data entrepreneur; founder of Bloomberg LP Frederick Weyerhaeuser (1834-1914) Bain News Service/Library of Congress Net worth (adjusted estimate): $118 billion Source of wealth: Timber magnate; founder of Weyerhaeuser Alice Walton Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Net worth: $119.7 billion Source of wealth: Walmart heir Jim Walton Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Net worth: $128.5 billion Source of wealth: Walmart heir and board member Rob Walton Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Net worth: $131.2 billion Source of wealth: Walmart heir and former chairman Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876) The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $132.1 billion Source of wealth: Retail pioneer; founder of AT Stewart & Co. Richard B. Mellon (1870-1933) : HUM Images/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $134.5 billion Source of wealth: Banker and industrial investor; heir to Mellon banking dynasty Michael Dell Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies. NurPhoto/Getty Net worth: $141.2 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; founder and CEO of Dell Technologies Warren Buffett Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage Net worth: $147.4 billion Source of wealth: Investor; CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Steve Ballmer Kevin Winter/Getty Images Net worth: $148.3 billion Source of wealth: Tech executive; former CEO of Microsoft Stephen Girard (1750-1831) Icas94 / De Agostini via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $156.3 billion Source of wealth: Banker, merchant, and financier Jensen Huang Jensen Huang Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Net worth: $165.4 billion Source of wealth: Co-founder and CEO of Nvidia John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $180 billion Source of wealth: Fur trader and real-estate investor Mark Zuckerberg TK Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Net worth: $227.4 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; co-founder of Facebook, now Meta Sergey Brin Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Net worth: $237.7 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; co-founder of Google Jeff Bezos CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images Net worth: $244 billion Source of wealth: E-commerce entrepreneur; founder of Amazon Larry Ellison Oracle chairman and cofounder Larry Ellison briefly eclipsed Elon Musk as the world's richest man this week. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Net worth: $249.4 billion Source of wealth: Software entrepreneur; co-founder and former CEO of Oracle Larry Page Kimberly White/Getty Images for Fortune Net worth: $257.6 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; co-founder of Google Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) Hulton Archive/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $275.3 billion Source of wealth: Shipping and railroad tycoon Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $459.6 billion Source of wealth: Steel industrialist; founder of Carnegie Steel John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) Hulton Archive/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $499 billion Source of wealth: Oil magnate; founder of Standard Oil Elon Musk Elon Musk says AI may render most job skills obsolete, yet he still supports college for his sons because it offers social growth and broad learning that they cannot obtain elsewhere. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images Net worth: $744.6 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; CEO of Tesla & SpaceX Read the original article on Business Insider

John D. Rockefeller gives a child a dime — Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller has long been considered the wealthiest man in America's history.
NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

America has more billionaires than ever, led by Elon Musk, who's estimated to be worth $744.6 billion.
Figures such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were known as the richest men of their time.
Today's tech leaders, including Musk and Jeff Bezos, are among the richest Americans in history.

America has never had as many billionaires as it does now.

But how does the wealth of historic figures, such as the industrialists of the Gilded Age, compare to that of the richest people in 2025?

In many historic calculations of net worth, individual fortunes weren't measured in isolation; instead, they were compared to the GDP of the US at the time. When the US economy was much smaller than it is today, the wealthiest families and individuals carried more weight in the economy than others during more prosperous times.

One of the richest Americans of all time is widely considered to be Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, whose wealth, at its peak in 1937, was equal to 1.5% of the country's GDP. His estimated net worth would be around $499 billion today, when adjusted for inflation.

Elon Musk's current wealth, however, is understood to have now eclipsed that of Rockefeller's. On December 29, Forbes estimated Musk's fortune to be $744.6 billion.

To identify some of the richest Americans of all time, we consulted Forbes' 2007 list of history's wealthiest figures, based on estimates by economist Peter Bernstein. It calculated individuals' wealth at their peak and compared it to the country's GDP at the time to convert it to 2006 dollars. This was then adjusted to today's dollars using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator.

For living individuals, we cited estimated net worths as reported by Forbes on December 29.

While estimations of historic wealth may not be perfect, they help paint a picture of the level of wealth enjoyed by some of America's most notable figures in business, and put it into context with today's billionaires.

Here are 28 of the wealthiest Americans in history.

Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937)