When we think of rich people, not millionaires, but billionaires, successful people who have money as a punishment, perhaps names such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega or Bernard Arnault may come to mind. None of them have a fortune that would dwarf what they have. Jacob Fugger At the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries. His wealth was so great that he is considered the richest person in history.

Year 1459. Pope John II. Pius founded the Military Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem, the Battle of Blore Health took place in England and Augsburg (Germany), a child was born in the Fugger family, whom he named Jakob Fugger, Spanishized as Jacobo Fúcar. Currently Jacobo Fúcar II is known as “Rich” and now we will see why.

Fúcars

Fugger wasn’t just any surname. He was from a family that built one of the largest commercial empires of the time. The Fuggers began with the textile trade, but eventually became major agents in mining, spices, real estate and precious stones… Their empire, like that of the Medici in Florence, is considered one of the forerunners of early capitalism. Then Adam Smith would show up and turn everything upside down, but that’s another story.

Jakob had several older brothers: Ulrich, Georg, Andreas, Johann and Peter. They were devoted to the affairs of their father, Jacobo Fúcar the Elder, and with so many there was no need for more heirs in positions of responsibility. This wasn’t like ‘Succession’. So Jakob was sent to a monastery to continue his clerical career. The problem is that some of his brothers and his father are dead. For Jakob, this meant leaving religious life to run the family business with his brother Ulrich.

This is what the Fúcar house in Augsburg looks like now | Image: Alois Wüst

Jakob had no financial training, but he had no problem devoting several years to learning the arts of the trade in centers in Rome, Venice and Florence, where he came to establish contact with the Medici and the Papacy; run It would open many doors. In any case, the most interesting thing would come with their first commercial breakthrough into the world of mining. This will lead to him earning a lot of money and the corresponding effect.

Jakob began making loans to miners in the Salzburg silver mines and eventually Having a monopoly on the mining of the metal in question in Tyrol. James later succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor. He would enter into a lending relationship with Frederick’s successor, Maximilian I. Maximilian I spent a lot of money and Jakob saw this as a great source of income.

Basically, our hero lent money and asked for mining operation and prospecting rights in return. This led to him controlling all the silver mines in Europe and later monopolizing the copper trade and iron industry investments.

Maximilian I of Habsburg | Portrait of Albrecht Dürer (1519)

He did good things too. Beyond the over-the-top story of bribes, money, and shady things we’ll see, Fugger did his part to help his neighbors. One of his best-known works, Fuggerei, is essentially a social housing area in the south of Germany that is still in operation today, where rent is around one euro a year.

To provide some context, Tyrolean silver was only reported between 1487 and 1494. 400,000 guilders profit To the Fúcar company. How do we know if this is too much or too little? Maybe it tells us something to know that James financed the War of the League of Cambrai with 150,000 guilders. Later we will see what his fortune was at the time of his death, but for now let’s stay with the fact that in 1511 his brother Ulrich died and Jakob remained the sole owner of the company.

power in the shadows

Portrait of Charles V | Attributed to Titian and Lambert Sustris

Jakob Fúcar managed to enter the church and, by analogy, engage in the sale of indulgences (in short, becoming an archbishop with a checkbook). Fúcar did this with Albert of Brandenburg, who gave him an advance of 48,000 florins in 1515. In fact, this work served to crowdfund the construction of St. Peter’s Cathedral. His influence was so great that he was the same Reformation Protestant Luther. and 95 Theses, in his article ‘To the Christian Nobles of the German Nation’, he said that “Fucars and such companies should be restrained”.

He not only financed some archbishops and Popes, but also put up money for the first trip to India. Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition. However, one of the most interesting events occurred with the death of Maximilian I in 1519. When the crown of the Holy Roman Empire was released, there were two options: Francis I of France; or Maximilian’s grandson, Charles of Austria, also known as Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire. This name gives us a clue.

Fugger was genuinely interested in Charles becoming emperor: debts. Maximilian had bequeathed all his debts, so Jakob helped Charles become emperor: he bribed five of his seven princely electors. The total bribe was 852,000 florins, 544,000 of which was given to Fugger. Guess what the first thing he wanted in return was? Actually mining concessions, particularly copper, salt and gold concessions from Spain.

no heir

Portrait of Jakob Fugger | Portrait of Albrecht Dürer

This was in 1519, and for a short time this investment would bear fruit. Jakob Frugger dies after six yearsWithout leaving any heir in 1525. He had a wife, Sibylle Artzt (because of his marriage to her, her family gained access to the council of Augsburg in 1498), but he cannot be said to have spent much time with her. Moreover, she married another man named Konrad Rehlinger less than two months after his death. His estate was inherited by his nephews Raymund and Anton Fugger. After a brief golden age, his family’s decline began.

At the time of his death, Jakob Fugger’s net worth was 2.1 million forints. Since literally everything has changed since 1525, a direct conversion is impossible, or at least very complicated. However, years ago biographer Greg Steinmetz, the man who put the name of this unknown character on the table for almost a decade, estimated his fortune to be the equivalent of $400,000 million. The wealth of Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, is 210 billion dollars.

Image | Portrait of Albrecht Dürer (1518), Pexels, Wikimedia Commons

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