Many of the richest men in history devoted themselves to a single industry. In this way they dominated their chosen field and became extremely wealthy as a result.

Richard Mellon was a little more diverse than others, and he earned his huge fortune in a number of ways.

Mellon lived from 1858 until 1933, and in that span of less than 80 years he accumulated a fortune of more than $82.3 Billion dollars. This puts him securely at the number seven position in the richest men in American history.

Amongst his many successful business ventures, he earned a good portion of his wealth through the Pittsburgh Reduction Co., Pittsburgh Coal Co., and the Mellon Bank. The Mellon Bank was his father’s bank which Richard and his brother Andrew ran.

He was also a known philanthropist. He and his brother founded the very prestigious Mellon Foundation, a very famous philanthropic organization that did a lot of terrific work in the late 18th century and beyond.

His younger brother is also one of the richest Americans in history. He is at the number 14 position with a vast fortune of $50.5 Billion dollars. These two were business partners and cophilanthropists, and together they did some extraordinary things.




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