What Musk Can Learn From The World's Richest Man Ever

Jacob Fugger Had Sway Over Emperors But Knew The Limits Of His Ability To Challenge State Authority

- MANU JOSEPH

Elon Musk, the world's richest man among those whose wealth is known, recently found himself in a rare spot for someone of his influence: overplaying his hand. In a public spat with Donald Trump, Musk denounced the American president, suggested he should be impeached and even floated a serious allegation involving the late Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking minors. Musk also claimed his money helped Trump win the presidency. Such bluster would have been the doom of a billionaire in most nations. That Musk survived this is due to the one Western value he unwittingly relied on while helping ruin it: the right to criticize power fearlessly.

Yet, even in America, where the old habit of being the West lingers, Musk was forced to back-pedal. Trump threatened him on social media with legal scrutiny and the withdrawal of government contracts.

To understand the limits of wealth when it meets state power, Musk may want to get to know, if he doesn't already, one man who many consider the richest person who ever lived. No one clarifies the relationship between money and state better than Jacob Fugger, a 16th-century banker.

In today's money, Fugger's wealth would be worth some $400 billion dollars in hard assets. Musk's net worth is similar, but more volatile, as we have seen lately. But this does not demonstrate Fugger's true financial might in his time. In his book,