10 Richest People Who Ever Lived

7. Henry Ford - £135bn ($204bn)

American industrialist Henry Ford pioneered a whole range of new cars using the assembly-line technique of mass production. Ford converted the car from an expensive curiosity into an affordable luxury through the introduction of the "Model T" - and this helped him to capitalise on a market which had exponential growth in the late-19th and early-20th Century. At the height of his wealth, Ford was worth around £135billion ($204billion) due to the fact he had established franchise dealerships across most of North America and in major cities on six continents - and he left the majority of his wealth to the Ford Foundation, whose mission it is to advance human welfare.