<Tr> <Td> John D. Rockefeller </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1839--1937 <P> (97 years) </P> </Td> <Td> 336 </Td> <Td> On September 29, 1916, Rockefeller became the first person ever to reach a nominal personal fortune of US $1 billion (equivalent to US $16 billion in 2016). Rockefeller amassed his fortune from the Standard Oil company, of which he was a founder, chairman and major shareholder . By the time of his death in 1937, estimates place his net worth in the range of US $300 billion to US $400 billion in adjusted dollars for the late 2000s (decade). When considering the real value of his wealth, Rockefeller is widely held to have been the wealthiest American, as well as the richest person in modern history . </Td> </Tr> <P> (97 years) </P> <Tr> <Td> Andrew Carnegie </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1835--1919 <P> (84 years) </P> </Td> <Td> 310 </Td> <Td> Carnegie founded the Carnegie Steel Company, which was the most extensive integrated iron and steel operations in the United States; in 1901, Carnegie sold his company for US $480 million to J.P. Morgan, who then merged his company into U.S. Steel . Capitalized at US $1.4 billion at the time, U.S. Steel was the first billion dollar company in the world . In his final years, Carnegie's net worth was US $475 million, but by the time of his death in 1919 he had donated most of his wealth to charities and other philanthropic endeavors and had only US $30 million left to his personal fortune . Carnegie's hundreds of millions accounted for about 0.60% of the U.S. annual GDP and has a real value estimated at about US $75 billion adjusted for the late 2000s (decade). </Td> </Tr> <P> (84 years) </P>

Who was the richest person to have ever lived