Even to his contemporaries, Jakob Fugger was regarded as ‘the Rich Man’. In their eyes, he had amassed an unprecedented fortune. Even today, he is still considered the richest man of his time. But just how much money did Jakob actually have?
Development from 1494 to 1511
Under the Fugger brothers’ first partnership agreement of 1494, Jakob’s contribution amounted to 15,552 guilders. Following the death of his brother Ulrich in 1511, a settlement was made among the partners: The trading capital had by then grown to 196,791 guilders. Of this, 80,999 guilders were attributable to Jakob, with the remainder going to the four nephews (two each for the deceased partners). In 17 years, Jakob had increased his share fivefold.
A further 16 years later
The next major settlement, the famous ‘Inventory’ of 1527, was drawn up by Jakob’s nephew and successor Anton (1493–1560), as the partner Jakob had died in 1525. The inventory covered a period of six years: since 1521, the firm had made a profit of 2.1 million guilders. This was, of course, not solely Jakob Fugger’s money. His share and profit from the total capital amounted to 809,825 guilders; Jakob’s fortune had thus grown tenfold over the 16 years from 1511 to 1527. Jakob had withdrawn 142,035 guilders for his personal expenses, meaning that, on balance, the deceased’s share of the assets in 1527 amounted to 667,790 guilders.
How rich was Jakob by today’s standards?
Given the sums mentioned above, Jakob Fugger is now regarded as one of the richest men of his time. But what does the figure look like in modern currency? The problem with such comparisons is that any attempt to convert historical figures into current currency is extremely problematic. The economic historian Hermann Kellenbenz (d. 1990) proposed three methods that might enable an approximate comparison:
- Based on the gold content of the Rhenish guilder (the currency of the time)
- Based on the wages of craftsmen
- Based on price comparisons
The latter method is the least comparable and will not be used here
Jacob’s wealth according to method 1
The gold content of the Rhenish guilder was approximately 2.5 grams around the year 1520.
A share capital of 2 million guilders would therefore correspond to 5,000 kilograms of gold.
Using the gold price at the end of April 2016 – 36,237.17 euros per kilo of gold – the company’s capital would amount to the equivalent of 181 million euros as at April 2016.
Jacob’s share of 667,790 guilders, according to the 1527 inventory, would amount to personal gold assets of 1,669.475 kilograms. Converted at the current exchange rate, this would amount to approximately 60 million euros (60.497049 million).
Jakob’s wealth according to Method 2
A well-employed, guild-trained craftsman earned around 50 guilders around 1520, working a full 50 weeks a year. This corresponded to roughly 125 g of gold. At today’s rate of 36.2 euros per gramme, a craftsman would thus have earned an annual income equivalent to 4,525 euros. To match Jakob Fugger’s share in the company, worth approximately 60 million euros, 1,326 craftsmen would therefore have had to work for 10 years back then. If, however, we assume that a bricklayer or carpenter’s annual earnings today are 35,000 euros, 171 craftsmen would be able to amass Jakob’s fortune in 10 years.
Another perspective: wealth based on economic output
In the latest ranking of the rich and super-rich, Microsoft’s business portal places Jakob Fugger at number 11. This is not, however, due to his fortune – which, from the perspective of the super-rich, is rather modest at around 500 million euros – calculated from the 2.1 billion guilders he is said to have bequeathed. These figures do not tally with those from the inventory of 1527. What is far more remarkable, however, is the assumption that Jakob’s wealth during his lifetime is said to have accounted for around 10 per cent of the economic output of the Holy Roman Empire. By comparison, Bill Gates’s wealth amounts to only around 0.6 per cent of US economic output.
In terms of economic output, the richest person who ever lived was a ruler from Mali: Kankan Mansa Musa I (1280–1337), with an estimated fortune of 400 billion dollars.
What is certainly remarkable about this list is that Fugger features on it at all. And, of course, that it is not his guilders that count, but his ‘economic power’.
