List of richest Americans in history

Most sources agree that, adjusting for inflation, John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) was the richest man in the United States.

There are various methods of comparing individuals' wealth across time, including using simple inflation-adjusted totals or calculating an individual's wealth as a share of contemporary gross domestic product (GDP). For example, economic blogger Scott Sumner noted in 2018 that Rockefeller was worth $1.4 billion when he died in 1937, about $24 billion in dollars adjusted to 2018. Meanwhile, Bill Gates in 1999 was worth nearly $150 billion in dollars adjusted to 2018.

The second-richest person in terms of wealth compared to contemporary GDP is a subject of dispute. While most sources attribute this status to Andrew Carnegie, others argue that it could be Bill Gates, Cornelius Vanderbilt I, John Jacob Astor IV, or Henry Ford. Determining the lower ranks is an even more contentious debate. Vanderbilt left a fortune worth $100 million upon his death in 1877, equivalent to $2.4 billion today. As the United States became the world's leading economic power by the late 19th century, the wealthiest people in America were often also the wealthiest people in the world.

Fortune's wealthiest Americans (1957)
In 1957, Fortune magazine developed a list of the seventy-six wealthiest Americans, which was published in many American newspapers. Jean Paul Getty, when asked his reaction to being named wealthiest American and whether he was worth a billion dollars, said, "You know, if you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars" and then added, "But remember, a billion dollars isn't worth what it used to be."

The second category, the second to eighth richest individuals, included Andrew Mellon's son, daughter, niece, and nephew. Wealthiest Americans included a total of seven members of the Rockefeller family, five members of the Ford family, four members of the Du Pont family (and a non-family DuPont executive), and four General Motors executives.

$400,000,000 to $700,000,000
 * Ailsa Mellon Bruce, New York, New York; inherited wealth: Mellon Bank, Gulf Oil Company, Alcoa.
 * Arthur Vining Davis, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Alcoa, Florida real estate.
 * H. L. Hunt, Dallas, Texas; independent oil operator.
 * Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; inherited wealth.
 * Richard King Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; inherited wealth: Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon Bank, etc.
 * John D. Rockefeller Jr., New York; inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * Sarah Mellon, Pittsburgh; inherited wealth.

$200,000,000 to $400,000,000
 * Irénée du Pont, Wilmington, Delaware and Cuba; inherited wealth: E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co.
 * William du Pont Jr., Wilmington; inherited wealth: E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co.
 * Mrs. Frederick Guest, the former Amy Phipps, Palm Beach, Florida; inherited wealth from father Henry Phipps Jr., a Carnegie Steel executive.
 * Howard Hughes, Los Angeles; inherited wealth: Hughes Tool Company.
 * Joseph P. Kennedy, Boston, Massachusetts and New York; real estate.
 * Daniel K. Ludwig, New York; National Bulk Carriers.
 * Sid Richardson, Fort Worth, Texas; independent Oil operator.
 * Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., New York; General Motors Corporation.

$100,000,000 to $200,000,000
 * James Abercrombie, Houston, Texas; independent oil operator.
 * Vincent Astor, New York; inherited wealth: real estate.
 * Stephen Bechtel, San Francisco; construction, Bechtel Corporation.
 * William Blakley, Dallas; Braniff Airways, real estate.
 * Jacob Blaustein, Baltimore, Maryland; American Oil Company.
 * Lammot du Pont Copeland, Wilmington; E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co.
 * Clarence Dillon, New York; Dillon, Read & Co.
 * Doris Duke, New York and New Jersey; inherited wealth: tobacco.
 * Mrs. Alfred I. du Pont, Jacksonville, Florida and Wilmington; inherited wealth: St. Joe Paper Company, E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co.
 * Mrs. Edsel Ford, Detroit, Michigan; inherited wealth: Ford Motor Company.
 * Amory Houghton, Ambassador to France; inherited wealth: Corning Glass.
 * Arthur A. Houghton Jr., New York; Corning Glass.
 * Roy Arthur Hunt, Pittsburgh; Alcoa.
 * William Keck, Los Angeles; Superior Oil.
 * Charles F. Kettering, Dayton, Ohio; General Motors Corporation.
 * Mrs. Jean Mauzé, the former Abby Rockefeller, New York; inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * Mrs. Chauncey McCormick, the former Marion Deering, Chicago, Illinois; inherited wealth.
 * William L. McKnight, St. Paul, Minnesota; Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing.
 * John W. Mecom Sr., Houston; independent oil operator.
 * Clint Murchison, Dallas; independent oil operator.
 * Mrs. Charles Payson, the former Joan Whitney, New York; inherited wealth.
 * John L. Pratt, Fredericksburg, Virginia; General Motors Corporation.
 * David Rockefeller, New York; Chase Manhattan Bank and inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York; inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * Laurance Rockefeller, New York; venture capital: Eastern Air Lines, Reaction Motors, International Nickel and inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * Nelson Rockefeller, New York; Rockefeller Center,-, Inc., International Basic Economy Corporation and inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * Winthrop Rockefeller, Arkansas; ranching, Ibec Housing and inherited wealth: Standard Oil Trust.
 * R. E. Smith, Houston; independent oil operator.
 * John Hay Whitney, New York, Ambassador to Britain; venture capital and inherited wealth.

$75,000,000 to $100,000,000
 * Michael Late Benedum, Pittsburgh and West Virginia; Benedum-Trees Oil Company, Hiawatha Oil and Gas, etc.
 * Donaldson Brown, Port Deposit, Maryland; E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co.
 * George R. Brown, Houston; Brown & Root, Inc.
 * Herman Brown, Houston; Brown & Root, Inc.
 * John Nicholas Brown I, Newport, Rhode Island; inherited wealth: real estate.
 * Godfrey L. Cabot, Boston; Godfrey L. Cabot, Inc., etc.
 * James A. Chapman, Tulsa, Oklahoma; inherited: wealth: oil.
 * Leo Corrigan, Dallas; real estate.
 * Mrs. Horace Dodge, Jr., Palm Beach and Detroit; inherited wealth: automobiles.
 * John T. Dorrance, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; inherited wealth: Campbell Soup Company.
 * Benson Ford, Detroit; inherited wealth: Ford Motor Company.
 * Henry Ford II, Detroit; inherited wealth: Ford Motor Company.
 * William C. Ford, Detroit; inherited wealth: Ford Motor Company.
 * Erle P. Halliburton, Duncan, Oklahoma; Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company (died in Los Angeles Oct. 13, 1957).
 * Averell Harriman, Albany, New York, Governor of New York; inherited wealth: investment banking.
 * Henry J. Kaiser, Oakland, California; Kaiser Industries, etc.
 * John W. Kieckhefer, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Prescott, Arizona; Kieckhefer Container, Eddy Paper (absorbed by Weyerhaeuser).
 * Robert Kleberg Jr., King Ranch, Texas; inherited wealth: cattle, oil, land.
 * John E. Mabee, Tulsa; independent oil operator.
 * John D. MacArthur, Chicago; Bankers Life and Casualty Company.
 * A. H. Meadows, Dallas; General American Oil.
 * Charles S. Mott, Flint, Michigan; General Motors Corporation.
 * John M. Olin, Alton, Illinois; inherited wealth: Olin Mathieson Chemical.
 * Spencer T. Olin, Alton, Ill.; inherited wealth: Olin Mathieson Chemical.
 * J. Howard Pew, Philadelphia; inherited wealth: Sun Oil Company.
 * Joseph Pew, Philadelphia; inherited wealth: Sun Oil.
 * Marjorie Merriweather Post, Washington, DC; inherited wealth: General Foods.
 * James Sottile Jr., Miami; Pan American Bank.
 * George W. Strake, Houston; inherited wealth: independent oil operator.
 * Louis Wolfson, Miami Beach, Florida; Merritt-Chapman & Scott, New York Shipbuilding, etc.
 * Robert Woodruff, Atlanta, Georgia; The Coca-Cola Company.

Klepper and Gunther (1996)
In the 1996 book The Wealthy 100, authors Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther placed John D. Rockefeller atop the list of the richest Americans in history, followed by Cornelius Vanderbilt and John Jacob Astor. Bill Gates was the top living person, coming in fifth.

American Heritage (1998)
American Heritage magazine published the following list of 40 richest Americans ever in 1998, subtitling it "Surprise: Only three of them are alive today". The list was compiled by taking each person's wealth at death, adding the amount given away during his lifetime, and expressing the total as a fraction of the nation's GDP at the time.


 * 1) John D. Rockefeller
 * 2) Andrew Carnegie
 * 3) Cornelius Vanderbilt
 * 4) John Jacob Astor
 * 5) Bill Gates
 * 6) Stephen Girard
 * 7) Alexander Turney Stewart
 * 8) Frederick Weyerhauser
 * 9) Jay Gould
 * 10) Marshall Field
 * 11) Sam Walton
 * 12) Henry Ford
 * 13) Warren Buffett
 * 14) Andrew W. Mellon
 * 15) Richard B. Mellon
 * 16) James Graham Fair
 * 17) William Weightman
 * 18) Moses Taylor
 * 19) Russell Sage
 * 20) John Insley Blair
 * 21) Cyrus H. K. Curtis
 * 22) Paul Allen
 * 23) J. P. Morgan
 * 24) E. H. Harriman
 * 25) Henry Huddleston Rogers
 * 26) Oliver Hazard Payne
 * 27) Henry Clay Frick
 * 28) Collis Potter Huntington
 * 29) Peter Arrell Browne Widener
 * 30) Nicholas Longworth
 * 31) Philip Danforth Armour
 * 32) James Clair Flood
 * 33) Mark Hopkins Jr.
 * 34) Edward Cabot Clark
 * 35) Leland Stanford
 * 36) Hetty Green
 * 37) James J. Hill
 * 38) William Rockefeller
 * 39) Elias Hasket Derby
 * 40) Claus Spreckels

Bernstein and Swan (2008)
Bernstein and Swan in All the Money in the World (2008) mention the 15 richest Americans in history.


 * 1) John D. Rockefeller
 * 2) Andrew Carnegie
 * 3) Cornelius Vanderbilt
 * 4) John Jacob Astor
 * 5) Stephen Girard
 * 6) Richard B. Mellon
 * 7) A. T. Stewart
 * 8) Frederick Weyerhäuser
 * 9) Marshall Field
 * 10) Sam Walton
 * 11) Jay Gould
 * 12) Henry Ford
 * 13) Bill Gates
 * 14) Andrew W. Mellon
 * 15) Warren Buffett

Business Insider (2011)
Business Insider agreed on Rockefeller in first, but placed Andrew Carnegie second, followed by Vanderbilt, and Gates.


 * 1) John D. Rockefeller
 * 2) Andrew Carnegie
 * 3) Cornelius Vanderbilt
 * 4) Bill Gates
 * 5) John Jacob Astor
 * 6) Stephen Girard
 * 7) A. T. Stewart
 * 8) Frederick Weyerhäuser
 * 9) Jay Gould
 * 10) Stephen Van Rensselaer
 * 11) Marshall Field
 * 12) Sam Walton
 * 13) Warren Buffett

CNN Money (2014)
The following is a list compiled by CNN Money in 2014.


 * 1) John D. Rockefeller
 * 2) Cornelius Vanderbilt
 * 3) John Jacob Astor
 * 4) Stephen Girard
 * 5) Richard Mellon
 * 6) Andrew Carnegie
 * 7) Stephen Van Rensselaer
 * 8) A. T. Stewart
 * 9) Frederick Weyerhäuser
 * 10) Jay Gould
 * 11) Marshall Field
 * 12) Bill Gates
 * 13) Henry Ford
 * 14) Warren Buffett
 * 15) Andrew Mellon
 * 16) Sam Walton
 * 17) Moses Taylor
 * 18) Russell Sage
 * 19) James G. Fair
 * 20) William Weightman

By half decade
This list names the richest American by half decade starting in 1770.