Hunt, Dallas, Texas independent oil operator. Arthur Vining Davis, Miami, Florida Alcoa, Florida real estate.Ailsa Mellon Bruce, New York, New York inherited wealth: Mellon Bank, Gulf Oil Company, Alcoa.Jean Paul Getty, Oil business headquarters is in Los Angeles, California.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. The second category, covering the second to eighth richest individuals, included Andrew Mellon's son, daughter, niece, and nephew. Jean Paul Getty, when asked his reaction on being named wealthiest American and whether he was really 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.'

In 1957, Fortune magazine developed a list of the seventy-six wealthiest Americans, which was republished in many American newspapers.

1 Fortune's Wealthiest Americans (1957)įortune's Wealthiest Americans (1957).

Given the economic rise of the United States of America since its origins, with America becoming the foremost economic power in the world by the late 19th century, the wealthiest men in America were often also the wealthiest men in the world. Further places are a matter of even bigger debate. Second richest in terms of wealth over contemporary GDP is disputed, with various sources listing Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Jacob Astor IV, Bill Gates, or Henry Ford. Meanwhile, Bill Gates in 1999 was worth nearly $150 billion in dollars adjusted to 2018.

For example, economic blogger Scott Sumner noted in 2018 that Rockefeller was worth $1.4 billion when he died in 1937, which was about $24 billion in dollars adjusted to 2018. This method of comparing individuals' wealth across time is disputed. Rockefeller being the richest American in history, although some define richest as an individual's wealth as a share of contemporary Gross Domestic Product (GDP). When adjusting for inflation, most sources agree on John D. For contemporary lists, see List of wealthiest Americans by net worth.

Oil tycoons in america