Meet Mansa Musa I of Mali – the richest human being in all history. A new study has produced an inflation-adjusted list of the richest people of all time. Mansa Musa I of Mali. When we think of the world’s all-time richest people, names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and John D Rockefeller immediately come to mind. But few would have thought, or even heard of, Mansa Musa I of Mali – the obscure 14th century African king who was today named the richest person in all history.