Meet the Fuggers: Europe’s richest family ever

Long before Silicon Valley, the grandson of a 15th Century German peasant named Jakob Fugger built a mining and banking empire that dwarfed today’s tech titans, accumulating a fortune estimated at $4 trillion in today’s terms. Richer than the Medici, Rockefeller or Elon Musk, he was the ultimate financial mastermind who bought imperial elections, legalised interest-bearing loans, and inadvertently sparked the Protestant Reformation. In this episode, hosts Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth are joined by historian and author Greg Steinmetz to unpack the saga of history's ultimate balance-sheet nerd. From pioneering wire-transfer systems and building the world’s first social housing project to bankrolling popes and Holy Roman emperors, they explore how Fugger weaponised capital, shaped modern finance, and redefined the relationship between money and power. Further reading: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger by Greg Steinmetz To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Producer: Lulu Smyth Executive producers: Kate Ford and Manuela Saragosa Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Video editor: Michael Saliba Podcast development: Laura Clarke FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at thestoryofmoney@ft.com. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.