The Richest Man Ever? (NOT ELON MUSK)

That '$400 billion' number? Nobody can actually calculate it. Here's why (5:14). TOO RICH? (NOT ELON MUSK) Who was the richest person who ever lived? Many say it was Mansa Musa, the 14th-century king of the Mali Empire, a man so rich that his pilgrimage to Mecca crashed the price of gold in Cairo for twelve years. This is the story of the richest man in history, told in stick figure animation 👑💰 In 1324, Mansa Musa crossed the Sahara with thousands of people and camels loaded with tons of gold. In Cairo he gave gold away to everyone, caused inflation, ran out of money and had to borrow at high interest. Then he went home and helped turn Timbuktu into one of the great centers of learning in Africa. In this video you'll learn: 👑 Who was Mansa Musa and how rich was he really? 💰 Where the Mali Empire's gold came from, and why salt was worth so much 🌊 The strange story of the king who sailed into the Atlantic and never came back 🐪 How big Mansa Musa's hajj caravan was 📉 How one man caused inflation and crashed the gold market in Cairo 📚 How Timbuktu became a city of scholars and manuscripts 🗺️ Why Europeans put him on a map holding a giant golden orb Time Stamps: 0:00 – The king who broke an economy 0:24 – The Mali Empire: the land of gold and salt 1:25 – How Mansa Musa became king (the lost Atlantic fleet) 1:58 – Mansa Musa's hajj: the most expensive journey in history 2:44 – Mansa Musa in Cairo 3:21 – How to crash the price of gold (medieval inflation) 4:07 – Timbuktu: the city of books 4:53 – Was Mansa Musa the richest person ever? 📚 RESEARCH & SOURCES ▸ Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, Masalik al-Absar (14th century account of Mansa Musa in Cairo) ▸ Ibn Battuta, travels in Mali (1352–1353) ▸ Ibn Khaldun, Kitab al-Ibar ▸ The Catalan Atlas (1375), attributed to Abraham Cresques ▸ N. Levtzion & J.F.P. Hopkins, Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History ▸ The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Trans-Saharan Gold Trade (7th–14th century) ▸ British Library: African kings on medieval and Renaissance maps ▸ Boston University African Studies Center: Kingdom of Mali ▸ Encyclopedia.com: Musa, Mansa PEOPLE & CONCEPTS MENTIONED Mansa Musa · Mali Empire · Sundiata Keita · Griots · Niger River · Trans-Saharan trade · Gold and salt trade · Taghaza · Atlantic voyage of Musa's predecessor · Hajj · Cairo · Mamluk Sultanate · Al-Umari · Inflation · Al-Sahili · Djinguereber Mosque · Timbuktu · Gao · Timbuktu manuscripts · Ibn Battuta · Catalan Atlas · Portuguese exploration 🎨 Animation by StickHistory #mansamusa #history #richestmanever #stickfigurehistory #africanhistory