10 Richest People Of All Time

Apparently, being able to line your own and your family's pockets with billions of dollars is just one of the happy side-effects of spearheading a socialist revolution leading to the formation of what was - according to Gaddafi - the 'only democratic state on the planet'. The words 'kleptocracy', 'cronyism', and 'dictatorship' didn't appear in the former Libyan leader's Green Book.

As the unopposed leader of the north African state for the better part of four decades, Colonel Gaddafi had complete sovereignty over the continent's largest oil reserve, which was immediately nationalised after he seized power. The petro-boom of the '70s quickly made Libya one of Africa's richest nations - and Gaddafi was more than comfortable setting some of the profits aside for his own purse.

Whilst the colonel did redistribute some of the nation's vast wealth to other African leaders, it was less in the spirit of generosity and more in the interest of propping up the regimes of similarly autocratic allies. Other 'state investments' included properties in London's West End, as well as shares in major publishing group Pearson. Far less of Gaddafi's fortune was plunged into improving state infrastructure, leaving a third of the population living below the poverty line by the end of his rule.

At the time of his death, the Gaddafi family was estimated to have a wealth in excess of $200 billion, a kitty used in part to fund a lavish lifestyle which ultimately proved a motivating factor in their deposition. Were it not for the distinction between the dictator's personal wealth and that of the state being ambiguous, Gaddafi could theoretically have been considered the richest man in the world upon his brutal demise in 2011.