11. Another companion of William the Conqueror, Alan Rufus also exploited the spoils of the Norman Conquest to become one of the wealthiest men of Europe with an estate worth the equivalent of almost $200 billion.
Alan Rufus, 1st Lord of Richmond, was a companion of Duke William II of Normandy, thought to have been his uncle, and a leading supporter of the latter’s claim to the throne of England in 1066. Enjoying property in Normandy, it is believed Alan was present during the Battle of Hastings and that his forces were instrumental in driving the English from the field. Claiming lands in Cambridgeshire for his own, much of Alan’s early acquisitions in England are believed to have been seized from the late King Harold’s widow, Edith the Fair. Successfully putting down a rebellion in Northumberland in 1069, Alan was awarded a vast tract of land in North Yorkshire.
Counted among the leading lords in the Domesday Survey, by 1086 Alan had become one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in England, behind only King William himself and Robert, Count of Mortain in the number of holdings. Enjoying an annual income of £1,200, Alan ferociously defended his relative during the Rebellion of 1088, earning an even greater expansion of his lands and titles. Dying suddenly in 1093 without children, his vast fortune passed to his brothers, estimated to be valued today at one hundred and ninety-five billion dollars.