Cornelius Vanderbilt

Lived: May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877

Net worth: $185 billion

Heard about the Vanderbilt University? This University is named after Cornelius Vanderbilt, as he provided the initial gift to find it. He is a great industrialist and philanthropist who built his mighty wealth in shipping and railroads. He quit school at the age of 11 and borrowed $100 from his mother to purchase a boat at the age of 16. He built a complicated shipping business but his area of reign was in railroads. His net worth at the time of his death is said to be USD $105 million which was approximately 1/87th of US GNP.

 Bill gates

Lived: October 28, 1955 – Present

Net worth: $ 136 billion (peak fortune)

Gates is popularly known as the richest man in the world and it is jokingly said that the money he has can be used to build a road to the moon. He is the co-founder and chairman of Microsoft and was declared as a billionaire by Forbes just few days before his 32^nd birthday. He is consistently ranked among the world’s richest men and was always on top of the list from 1995 to 2009. He is also the Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, his philanthropic venture. Though his current worth is $61 billion, his peak fortune as reported by onlinebusinessschool is $136 billion.