Biography
Jakob Fugger — known as 'Fugger the Rich' — was the wealthiest private individual of the Renaissance era and arguably the first modern capitalist. Born into a wealthy merchant family in Augsburg, he transformed the family textile business into a financial empire spanning banking, mining, and trade across Europe. At his death, his estimated wealth represented nearly 2% of European GDP.
Fugger's innovations in finance were as significant as his wealth. He pioneered double-entry bookkeeping, created a proto-news network to gain business intelligence before competitors, and essentially invented the concept of the international commercial bank. He financed Holy Roman Emperors, popes, and kings — lending Charles V the money he needed to buy his election as Emperor.
His copper and silver mining monopolies in the Tyrol and Hungary were the equivalent of controlling a strategic resource in today's terms. He built the Fuggerei — the world's first social housing complex — in Augsburg in 1516, which still exists and still charges residents less than one euro per year in rent, as stipulated in his will.
Did You Know?
The Fuggerei housing complex Jakob Fugger built in 1516 for poor Catholic citizens of Augsburg is still operational today — making it the world's oldest social housing project. Annual rent: 88 euro cents, unchanged since the 16th century.