Monday, April 25, 2011

The eight most greedy people in history

Greed, selfishness, and avarice, or scrupulousness, are some of the most common defects among people in the world. But history of mankind produced some really greedy, rapacious  characters. They reached the paroxysm of greed, forgetting the simple fact that life on this earth is just ephemeral ...

Let's see a top of the most greedy people in history:
1) Marcus Licinius Crassus (115 BC - 53 BC)



While Marcus Crassus was still a young man became obsessed with wealth which will make the main feature of his character. He rented land and bought slaves just to trade them later on a better price. An inexhaustible source of enrichment for Crassus was offered by Rome's difficulty in providing housing for everyone. Ancient Rome was overcrowded and buildings extremely exposed to fire which was one of the most frequent causes for having entire neighborhoods destroyed. But this situation was favorable for speculation. Crassus had organized teams of firefighters, saving the houses from fire and then he bought the burned houses for a small price and after some reparations he rented them. Greed proved fatal to him as Crassus got killed during a disastrous military campaign when he wanted to conquer the Kingdom of Parthia, famous for its wealth.


2) Ghenghis Khan (1162-1227)




Great Mongol Khan wanted to hold everyone, and was about to achieve his dream.Before his death, his empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Adriatic.


3) Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484)



The Pope was greatly enriched by the fact that he imposed taxes to the brothels and claimed that the souls in purgatory can go to paradise if indulgences for the dead are bought by their living relatives.


4) William H. Vanderbilt (1821-1884)



Vanderbilt was an american rich man of the nineteenth century who was perhaps the richest and most powerful man of his times. He controlled the largest rail network in the world and became famous with his famous words: "The public be damned.I only care about my property. "


5) William M. Tweed (1823-1878)



Tweed was a land owner in New York but also had banks, railways and hotels. His fortune, in terms of value today would be around 8 billion dollars so far. But he was famous for his avarice and greed, many cartoons of the time being made on the subject of this "flaw" of his.


6) The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908)




Although she started her "career" as the whore of the Chinese Emperor, meanwhile she managed to become "de facto" the head of this large Asian country for nearly 50 years. She became famous for the 3,000 boxes of jewelry she owned and used the money of the Chinese Navy to build a marble boat where she was dining using 150 golden chop sticks.


7) Charles Ponzi (1882-1949)




He was one of the greatest American crooks of all time. He was the creator of so-called "Ponzi schemes" which doubles the money originally deposited in 3 months. Greedy to make money from whatever was immeasurable.


8) Imelda Marcos (1929)



Tagalog wife of President Ferdinand Marcos, is suspected of having stolen, along with her husband over 5 billion dollars of wealth Philippines. When she and her husband have been deposed from power in 1986, authorities found in Imelda's lockers in Malacañang (presidential palace) over 3000 pairs of shoes, size 37. Imelda's extravagance was beyond any acceptable limit. During an expedition to purchase real estate in New York, she decided to buy the Empire State Building, but eventually gave up. Evaluated at about $750 million, the building did not exceed her financial possibilities, but she said it was an acquisition too glaring. " Instead, she spent fifty-one to get Crown Building and sixty million for Herald Center and two other apartments in Manhattan.

51 comments:

the empress dowager did what she had to she should not be on this list

Hitler is hated for an entire different reason all it's own and not really associated with greed, but for pure genuine hate. Hitler's was clearly insane and didn't care about money if he did he would have capitalized on the Jewish population. A true greedy ruler watches his empire grow by watching others work for him while throwing them a bone every once in a while. Killing off people hardly accomplishes just that. On the other hand I cannot figure out why Saddam is not up here. His level of greed equates to that of Roman times. He had an estimated 48 palaces in the billions of dollars while his people slepts in filth?

the empress dowager cixi was really a greedy person. she usually put her own interest ahead of the nation's. she had limitless greed for power. she also let financial corupption rampant in the forbidden city.

you guys made a stupid website

no one can ignore me i am the greedyiest of them alll i hate your verry dumb site

You have missed the most obvious group... those who make up only 2% of the population yet control over 80% of the wealth. It’s the people who have destroyed more nations than any other group and have damaged the economy of the world’s most powerful nation. Everyone knows who they are but are afraid to say due to their control of the media has made political correctness of utmost importance. They have done their best to enslave us all. While they proclaim we are all equal they don’t believe it for a moment.

He is talking about the j...sh people
That's right they control the entire world

Being greedy is by far NOT a good thing! It's why America is going down the toilet like a terd.

Like someone who lives in house with 5 Johns, or drives a massive SUV, you've got to ask "What are they are compensating for..."

you missed the epitome of modern greed: Mitt Romney

Thanks for the list of greedy people! We had to do an assignment on "desire overpowering self-control/discipline" and I decided to use Empress Cixi. To all the people who said stupid website or what about this person or that's not true, this website was made to guide you if you needed help on research. If you really want to go in depth, research the person yourself. These are just examples. Jeez T.T people these days >.<

People's greed always lead to their downfall and that's what has exactly happened with all these people.
This thought has been very nicely described in the story 'How much land does a man need'.
Everyone should read it at least once.

well if u ask for my opinion i think that these people are really greedy like get this i have a car and i drove it into a wall Bye Potatoes

WHEN GREED SUPERSEDES NEED, THEN THE POOR CANNOT FEED. WHEN NEED SUPERSEDES GREED, THEN PROSPERITY WILL PLANT GOOD SEEDS FROM WHICH WE ALL CAN FEED INDEED!

Dumb list. Genghis Khan wasn't any more greedy than any other ruler of the time, he just had the intelligence and the will power to achieve the goals other's couldn't. Why Louis XIV or Pope Urban II isn't here I'll never know. Oh, yeah I forgot. European bias and ignorance

Why is Ghenghis Khan up there. He wasn't greedy, he was just a good ruler. He never put his own extravagance before the Mongolian Empire. Saddam Hussein should be up there instead.

Greed is a sickness and it seems to be growing exponentially in modern times. I guess as we get closer to the total economic collapse,people will be trying very hard to grab up all that is "valuable". All of mankind's treasures will soon be worthless.

Charles Ponzi was a greedy, Italian schemer by birth and stock. Don't knock hard-working Americans, born and raised here, by suggesting Ponzi started out as one.

I have no clue of who these people are.

Excuse me, but Imelda Marcos does not come from the Tagalog ethnic group. She is Waray from Eastern Visayas.

why do greedy people have so much? why do people in poverty have so little? where is God in all this chaos? what did you get me for Christmas? nothing! well I hate your guts! give me give me give me!
think about it would it not be better to give when you have so much? I mean what IF there really is a GOD you are going to have to answer for your greed. what could you possibly say? nothing that matters because it is your actions that will speak for you. BET ON IT!!!

Why Gloria Arroyo is not included?

Gold bullion worth $35 billion in 1980's stolen from Central Bank of the Philippines which is deposited in Swiss bank has not been cited. Marcoses were the richest person on that time ahead of Bulkiah, the Sultan of Brunei. The gold has double price as of now.

This list is way too subjective to be of any use .., almost everyone can name at least one person who should be up there who isn't , Saddam , Ghaddafi , Martha Stewart , Apple's founder .., etc...,

What a joke List. The Dirty Jews are the biggest thieves
in the history of the world. They took the USA, a great
Protestant Country, and created the largest Ponzi Scheme
in the history of the world. It went from the Wealthiest
to Largest Debtor Nation in less than 50 Years!

And Islam was based on Jihad (Invading then murdering, raping,
enslaving and stealing) The wealth stolen by Muslims In India
alone, not even including the African Slave Trade, accounted
for more Jewels and Property than Most can even imagine
in the West.

No, it's a proven fact Jews are the most greedy of all it's just politically correct to say so wimps like you won't do so.

Meant to say: not politically correct.

I think you might be reaching here! Greed is rampant everywhere from the entitled poor / middle class to the upper crust, within every religious and ethnic background too! It is the soul reason our country is in the mess it is! A lot can be learned from the Jewish community's, one of the reasons they are so successful is there willingness to stick together. We too can do the same,in my opinion the rich stick together creating greater wealth while the middle class and poor rip each other apart for scrapes causing great disparity.

I`ve heard this thing about jews being gready for many years, never really understood it. Then I wathced a show called Pawnstars or something, from Detroit. The Gold family runs a pawn shop. And oh my God! All they do is think about money, money, money, money. One of them actually said on camera that it didn`t matter if it was a friend they did business with, the most important thing was that the Gold family made money. Never before have I seen such gready people, it was insane. Now I understand why people say jews are gready, it`s becasue jews are very, very gready. And I`m pretty sure they dont have a soul like normal people do. Crazy stuff.

What you're saying is completely true. I know that everybody must say the same thing, but I just think that you put it in a way that everyone can understand. I'm sure you'll reach so many people with what you've got to say.

Shut the fuck up people. This was helpful thou.

Do you rememberMabutu Sesaseco of Zaire?

If Imelda Marcos bought those buildings in New York to lease them that is not quite greedy it is just a business strategy.
So is it being greedy?

umm Stalin isn't up there either? But this website is helpful

You better study and refrain yourself from making a nonsense comment then ��

where's george soros and other billionaires?

What about TRUMP he only thinks of himself and would sell his own mother if he thought he could make money off her$$$$$

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