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Title details for The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Greg Steinmetz - Available

The Richest Man Who Ever Lived

The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger

by Greg Steinmetz
Norman Dietz
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Jacob Fugger lived in Germany at the turn of the sixteenth century, the grandson of a peasant. By the time he died, his fortune amounted to nearly two percent of European GDP. Not even John D. Rockefeller had that kind of wealth.
Most people become rich by spotting opportunities, pioneering new technologies, or besting opponents in negotiations. Fugger did all that, but he had an extra quality that allowed him to rise even higher: nerve. In an era when kings had unlimited power, Fugger had the nerve to stare down heads of state and ask them to pay back their loans—with interest. It was this coolness and self-assurance, along with his inexhaustible ambition, that made him not only the richest man ever but a force of history as well. Fugger helped trigger the Reformation and likely funded Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe.
The ultimate untold story, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived is more than a tale about the richest and most influential businessman of all time. It is a story about palace intrigue, knights in battle, family tragedy and triumph, and a violent clash between the 1 percent and everybody else.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 17, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781494599379
      • File size: 274616 KB
      • Duration: 09:32:06

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 18, 2015
      Steinmetz, a securities analyst and former journalist, reveals the untold story of history’s “first documented millionaire”: 16th-century German banker Jacob Fugger. Born into an Augsburg textile family and apprenticed in Venice to learn the trade, young Fugger also picked up the basics of banking before moving on to mining and spices. However, his important contributions to history revolve around loans: funding conquests by Maximilian of Hapsburg, orchestrating the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and providing Maximilian’s successor, Charles, with “the biggest loan the world had ever seen” for his campaign to be emperor. Fugger is further credited with destroying the Hanseatic League and organizing a debate that led to Pope Leo lifting the ban on usury. Steinmetz argues that Fugger also indirectly sparked the Protestant Reformation by accepting indulgence money as loan payments. When a peasant revolt threatened capitalist stability, Fugger hired army commander George von Truchsess to quash it. Steinmetz is direct about his subject’s dishonorable characteristics: mistreating employees, ruthlessly ruining business rivals, and calling in debts from the family of a recently deceased friend. While providing an interesting slice of history, Steinmetz fails to satisfactorily flesh out this obscure figure, and his account vacillates wildly between admiration and disgust. Agent: David Kuhn, Kuhn Projects.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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