The richest people of all time - Bill Gates in12th place

AP Photo/John Minchillo

We think we know what it means to be wealthy. We have Bill Gates and Paris Hilton showing us the broad spectrum of what happens to humanity when faced with a fortune. However, we haven't seen the half of it. A new study has adjusted wealth to take account for inflation - and revealed the 25 richest people who ever lived

So why were they so rich, how did they make it - and how did they spend it?
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