Who was Mansa Musa, the 'richest man in history' – and what ...The wealthiest African king in history was Mansa Musa, the emperor of the Mali Empire in the 14th century, whose vast wealth from controlling gold and salt trade routes allowed him to be possibly the richest person in all recorded history. His wealth was so immense, estimated to be worth hundreds of billions in today's dollars, that his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 caused significant inflation in the economies of cities like Cairo, where he distributed massive amounts of gold.