Andrew Carnegie Net Worth is $310.0 Billion (at death)
By the time he died Andrew Carnegie net worth amounted to $480 million. Although this is an enormous fortune, and it was even more impressive a hundred years ago, you should know that Andrew is by far not the richest man who has ever walked this ground. One famous internet website has made a list of the richest people ever, covering a period of almost 1000 thousand years and adjusting for inflation. According to this website, the richest man to ever walk the ground was Mansa Musa, who lived in the late 13th–early 14th century and ruled Malian Empire, which used to cover the territories of current Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali. The second greatest wealth-holder in history was Rothschild family, which controlled more than $350 billion dollars. And in the third place goes John D. Rockefeller. The richest American so far, the Owner of Standard Oil company which once dominated the market and at the time he lived – the ruler of the fortune worth $340 billion. Compared with the fortunes of these men Andrew Carnagie net worth no longer seems particularly impressive: in 2011 it would equal $225 billion. But nonetheless, he was a great man and it is worth taking a closer look at his career.
Quick facts
Net Worth: | $310.0 Billion |
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Age: | 84 years old |
Height: | 5 ft 2 in (1.6002 m) |
Date of birth: | Nov 25, 1835 |
Date of death: | Aug 11, 1919 |
Nationality: | United States of America |
Occupation: | Entrepreneur, Businessperson, Business magnate |
Last Updated: | 2023 |
The millionaire we are speaking about was born in a poor Scottish family and raised in a shared house with only one main room, which served as a bedroom, living room and dining room. At the age 13 the boy started working 12 –hour daily shifts in a cotton mill. A couple of years later he became a telegraph messenger boy in the Pittsburgh Office. Although this job was a bit easier, his salary was still miserable: at this point in time Andrew’s salary was $2.50 per week. In 1953, when Carnegie turned 18, his salary reached $4 per week, as he became secretary/telegraph operator. Soon Andrew Carnegie net worth started increasing with some speed. The young and smart man started investing in Adams Express, a company which contracted with the Pennsylvania to carry its messengers and reinvesting his returns in railroads, bridges and iron. The most important sources of his fortune became Keystone Bridge Company and his steel empire.
In the end, it is worth mentioning that Andrew Carnegie net worth served to help a lot of people: he was a generous philanthropist. In addition to this he was an active defender of liberal market economy and competition. For example, he has once written in North American Review: „While the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department. We accept and welcome, therefore, as conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment, the concentration of business, industrial and commercial, in the hands of the few, and the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential for the future progress of the race.“