Mansa Musa - History’s Richest Man Moves The Market

Mansa Musa was the richest person that ever lived. He earned his money the old fashioned way: by ruling a kingdom that sat on the largest gold mines in the world.

Mansa Musa means “Emperor Moses,” and he ruled the empire of Mali in west Africa from 1307-1337. The Mali empire was the largest and richest kingdom in West Africa, with its most important city, Timbuktu, growing wealthy as a trade hub from caravans crossing the Sahara.

Mansa Musa expanded his empire, doubling the size of the realm he inherited. He built an efficient administration of local governors, which was critical to tax the gold mines in the region. All gold was the personal property of the emperor, and Mansa Musa controlled something like half a trillion dollars in today’s money.

In 1324, Mansa Musa began his hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. He did not travel as a barefoot pilgrim; he traveled in royal style. His procession was led by 500 slaves, each carrying a staff made of gold. They were followed by 100 camels, each loaded down with 300 pounds of gold. All-in there were more than 50,000 people in the caravan. That’s almost the population of Paris or London at the time.

After six months on the road, the caravan reached Cairo. This would have been the largest city that Mansa Musa had ever seen, and he was impressed. They spent the summer there, and spent literally tons of gold with merchants of every type.

Mansa Musa was known for his generosity, giving gold to the poor all along his route. He also gave kingly gifts to his fellow rulers, including 50,000 gold coins to the sultan of Egypt. He endowed mosques and schools everywhere he went.

The royal caravan left Cairo and continued on to Mecca. In Arabia, he purchased land so future pilgrims from Mali would have a place to stay. Having fulfilled his obligations to make the pilgrimage, Mansa Musa turned around and headed back home.

Although it had only been a few months since they left Cairo, when the caravan returned, the city was already a different place. The influx of gold had crashed the price of the commodity, and thus crashed Cairo’s economy. You know all too well what inflation is, but the concept was not well understood in the medieval world. It took over ten years for the economy of Cairo to recover.

Back in Timbuktu, Mansa Musa got busy building his city to match the sights he had seen on his journey. He brought back many scholars and skilled artisans. They built libraries, schools, and universities that sparked a boom in education. Inspired by the holy sites, new mosques and palaces sprang up along the city’s skyline.

Tales of such a wealthy and generous ruler spread throughout Europe and the Islamic world, making Mansa Musa a famous figure. He set the gold standard for pilgrimage in style. (hey-oh!) He was personally drawn in the Catalan Atlas created decades later in 1375. (pictured above) Europeans may not have been sure exactly where Timbuktu was, but they knew it was in Africa and its streets must be paved with gold.

When a well-funded buyer enters a market, it can create ripples that disrupt prices. Sometimes called “whales,” these buyers enter a market with significant purchasing power and get whatever it is they’re after. The effect is the same no matter what the market: commodities, real estate, crypto, even labor. While Mansa Musa made economic waves all on his own, it’s more common for the market to move from normal supply and demand.

If you’re a little fish in the big pond, there’s no use trying to fight the whale. Just ride the wave. If you were trying to hire a developer with experience in an obscure coding language and the market price was $X, don’t despair that your candidates are now demanding twice that rate. The market has spoken. Your competitors will also have to pay this new market rate.

If you’re the one with the skills that are now in demand, you gotta strike while the iron’s hot. You can go to your boss and HR and show them the new salary figures for a position like yours, but they’re not likely to act on it and give you the raise you want. If you want to take advantage of market demand to bump your pay, you’ll probably have to jump ship.

Later, you might see that your old company has reposted your role with a salary in the range that you showed them. Don’t get mad; that’s just the way it goes. You can always reapply for your old job in a couple of years after your old manager gets fired.