A man who is reputed to have been the richest person who ever lived once gave away so much gold he completely wrecked an economy.
Scholars are divided over whether this was an unintended consequence of good intentions – or a cunning plan to cripple a rival country and political power.
Mansa Musa was a medieval ruler of the West African empire of Mali.
His vast wealth was, in 2015, estimated to have been worth around $530 billion in today’s money.
For context, this makes him nearly twice as rich as Elon Musk – who is currently the richest person in the world, with a reported net worth of $270.5 billion.
Musa mainly accumulated his vast wealth through the empire that he inherited, which stretched for about 2,000 miles – from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to modern-day Niger.
It took taking in parts of what are now Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
Mali was the largest producer of gold in the world at the time and also had huge salt reserves. Musa’s empire profited greatly from these trades.
He grew even wealthier from taxes levied on goods passing through its territory. A devout Muslim, he then shared this wealth with the poor during his infamous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324.
Musa’s pilgrimage lasted around a year, and he travelled with a massive entourage. It is still remembered as one of the most extravagant displays of wealth in history.
His procession reportedly included 60,000 men, 12,000 slaves – and hundreds of camels laden with gold. During his travels, Musa distributed enormous amounts of this gold – especially in Cairo.
In fact, he gave away so much gold – in the form of gifts, alms, and purchases – that it flooded the local market, leading to an oversupply in Egypt. The value of gold plummeted in Cairo.
This sudden devaluation caused widespread inflation – and destabilised the city’s economy for more than a decade. Prices soared, and the economy of Cairo – along with other regions – suffered for years as a result.
Many scholars says Musa’s goal was likely to display the wealth and power of the Mali Empire – and fulfil religious obligations – rather than intentionally harm the economy of Egypt.
They point to accounts that suggest that he tried to remedy the situation by borrowing gold from meon lenders in Cairo, at high interest rates, on his return journey.
Some say this was an attempt to stabilise the gold market, indicating that the economic disruption he had caused was unintended. However, others say he simply spent so much that he ran out of gold.
And others believe it had all been a wily ruse to cement his nation’s power. Egypt was, at the time, Mali’s biggest rival – and was the leading gold market.
Consequently, many people who wanted to buy gold went and bought it from Cairo. So some scholars now suggest Musa deliberately distributed the gold, knowing full well that it would cripple economies – including Cairo’s. They say he did this to protect Mali.
