4. Mir Osman Ali Khan
Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad,who was regarded as the wealthiest person in world. His portrait graced the cover of Time magazine in 1937. He had his own mint, printing his own currency, the Hyderabadi rupee, and a vast private treasury. Its coffers were said to contain £100m in gold and silver bullion, and a further £400m of jewels. Among them was the Jacob Diamond (Koh-i-Noor), valued at some £100m (in 2008), and used by the Nizam as a paperweight. There were also other treasures; gems, pearls – enough to pave Piccadilly Circus–, hundreds of race horses, thousands of uniforms, tonnes of royal regalia and Rolls-Royces by the dozen. The Nizam is widely believed to have remained as the richest man on Earth until his death in 1967.
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