See how Elon Musk's fortune compares with the richest Americans in history

Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller has long been considered the wealthiest man in America's history, but Elon Musk is now wealthier — and his fortune continues to grow. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images / ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX's public debut. America has more billionaires than ever, led by Elon Musk and other tech executives. Figures such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were known as the richest men of their time. America has never had as many billionaires as it does now — and the number is only growing. The SpaceX IPO resulted in one of the greatest wealth increases in history, turning Elon Musk 's estimated net worth of over $800 billion before the company went public into the world's first-ever trillion-dollar-plus fortune. While the scale of Musk's fortune is unprecedented by all measures, it also raises the question of how historic figures, largely considered America's richest, such as the Gilded Age industrialists , compare with the richest people today. That is to say: Who are the richest Americans of all time? In many historical calculations of net worth, individual fortunes weren't measured in isolation; instead, they were compared to the US GDP at the time. When the US economy was much smaller than it is today, the wealthiest families and individuals carried more weight in the economy than others during more prosperous times. One of the richest Americans of all time is widely considered to be Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, whose wealth, at its peak in 1937, was equal to 1.5% of the country's GDP. His estimated net worth would be around $512.7 billion today, when adjusted for inflation. Elon Musk's current wealth, however, has now far eclipsed that of Rockefeller's. To identify some of the richest Americans of all time, we consulted Forbes' 2007 list of history's wealthiest figures , based on estimates by economist Peter Bernstein . It calculated individuals' wealth at their peak and compared it to the country's GDP at the time to convert it to 2006 dollars. This was then adjusted to today's dollars using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator . For living individuals, we cited Forbes' estimated net worths as of June 16, 2026. While estimates of historical wealth may not be perfect, they help paint a picture of the wealth enjoyed by some of America's most notable business figures and put it in context with today's billionaires. Here are 29 of the wealthiest Americans in history — and how modern-day tech magnates rank among them. Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937) Bettmann via Getty Images Estimated net worth (2026 adjusted estimate): $85.3 billion Source of wealth: Banker and industrialist; heir to the Mellon banking dynasty Henry Ford (1863-1947) Getty Images/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $91.8 billion Source of wealth: Automaker; founder of Ford Motor Company Jay Gould (1836-1892) Bettmann/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $98.4 billion Source of wealth: Railroad financier and speculator Sam Walton (1918-1992) Paul Matthews/Fairfax Media via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $99 billion Source of wealth: Retail entrepreneur; founder of Walmart Marshall Field (1834-1906) Bettmann/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $101.6 billion Source of wealth: Retail magnate; founder of Marshall Field & Company Bill Gates Bill Gates built his fortune by co-founding Microsoft and dominating the PC software era. Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images Net worth: $104.4 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; cofounder of Microsoft Thomas Peterffy Bloomberg/Getty Images Net worth: $107.1 billion Source of wealth: Digital trading pioneer; founder and former CEO of Interactive Brokers Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg became a billionaire by founding Bloomberg LP and selling financial data. PAC NYC) Net worth: $109.4 billion Source of wealth: Financial data entrepreneur; founder of Bloomberg LP Frederick Weyerhaeuser (1834-1914) Bain News Service/Library of Congress Net worth (adjusted estimate): $122 billion Source of wealth: Timber magnate; founder of Weyerhaeuser Steve Ballmer Steve Ballmer amassed his wealth during decades at Microsoft, including as CEO. Leon Bennett/Getty Images Net worth: $126 billion Source of wealth: Tech executive; former CEO of Microsoft Alice Walton Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Net worth: $127.7 billion Source of wealth: Walmart heir Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876) The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $136.6 billion Source of wealth: Retail pioneer; founder of AT Stewart & Co. Jim Walton Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Net worth: $136.7 billion Source of wealth: Walmart heir and board member Richard B. Mellon (1870-1933) : HUM Images/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $139.1 billion Source of wealth: Banker and industrial investor; heir to Mellon banking dynasty Rob Walton Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Net worth: $139.4 billion Source of wealth: Walmart heir and former chairman Warren Buffett Warren Buffett built his fortune through long-term investing at his firm, Berkshire Hathaway. Johannes EISELE / AFP via Getty Images Net worth: $146.4 billion Source of wealth: Investor; former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Stephen Girard (1750-1831) Icas94 / De Agostini via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $161.6 billion Source of wealth: Banker, merchant, and financier Jensen Huang Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images Net worth: $181.1 billion Source of wealth: Co-founder and CEO of Nvidia John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $186.1 billion Source of wealth: Fur trader and real-estate investor Mark Zuckerberg Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Taylor Hill/Getty Images Net worth: $204.7 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; cofounder of Facebook, now Meta Michael Dell Michael Dell became a billionaire by founding Dell and revolutionizing PC sales. KikeRincon/Europa Press via Getty Images Net worth: $229.2 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; founder and CEO of Dell Technologies Larry Ellison Larry Ellison built his wealth by turning Oracle into a dominant enterprise software company. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images Net worth: $238.3 billion Source of wealth: Software entrepreneur; cofounder and former CEO of Oracle Jeff Bezos Bezos built his fortune by founding Amazon, which reshaped global retail. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images Net worth: $255.6 billion Source of wealth: E-commerce entrepreneur; founder of Amazon Sergey Brin Sergey Brin became one of the world's richest people after co-founding Google. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Net worth: $279.6 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; cofounder of Google Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) Hulton Archive/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $284.6 billion Source of wealth: Shipping and railroad tycoon Larry Page Google cofounder Larry Page has cut his ties to California Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Net worth: $303.1 billion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; cofounder of Google Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $475.2 billion Source of wealth: Steel industrialist; founder of Carnegie Steel John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) Hulton Archive/Getty Images Net worth (adjusted estimate): $516 billion Source of wealth: Oil magnate; founder of Standard Oil Elon Musk Elon Musk said he would create a new political party if Trump's spending bill passes. ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP/Getty Images Net worth: $1.4 trillion Source of wealth: Tech entrepreneur; CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Read the original article on Business Insider