Good point. Check this list of the top hundred richest people in US history, ranked by their wealth as a portion of GNP: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006

Good point. Check this list of the top hundred richest people in US history, ranked by their wealth as a portion of GNP: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-wealthy-100-a-ranking-of-the-richest-americans-past-and-present/ http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-wealthy-100... A. T. Stewart, anybody? Frederick Weyerhaeuser? William Weightman? John I. Blair? Mind you, you don't have to be a big-name philanthropist to be on that list and remembered. Rockefeller was so goddamn rich that he's famous just for being incredibly rich. Howard Hughes is remembered for his eccentricities. Samuel Colt is remembered because he invented something. And then there's George Washington...