The top five rich people in American history While these may be exciting to you and me, they are nothing but pocket change to the richest of the rich. Being wealthy is no longer a millionaire’s game, but that played by super wealthy billionaires.So just how much money do the top earners have? Well let’s take a look at the top ten rich people in American history. These top ten rich people lived in various times throughout the past 3 centuries, and a couple of them are still making money today.John D. Rockefeller-$305.3 Billion,Andrew Carnegie-$281.2 Billion,Cornelius Vanderbilt-$168.4 BillionBill Gates-$121.6 Billion,John Jacob Astor-$110.1 Billion