When we think of super-rich people of the world, some of the names which instantly come to our minds are of world’s richest man Elon Musk, Louis Vuitton owner Arnold Bernault, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and others. But there are many people in history who were much richer than the people mentioned above and one such person who was ultra-rich was Empress Wu of China.

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According to reports, Empress Wu was the richest woman of her time while some historians claim that she is the richest woman to live on earth ever. Her net worth is estimated to be USD 16 trillion, which is much more than the combined net worth of Musk, Mukesh Ambani, Jeff Bezos, Adani and others. Empress Wu belonged to Tang dynasty. The net worth of Elon Musk is around USD 235 billion, while Jeff Bezos’ net worth is USD 150 billion. India's richest person Mukesh Ambani's net worth is around USD 91 billion.

According to historians, Empress Wu was a very shrewd monarch and she used every trick in the book to remain in power. Some reports claim that Empress Wu even killed her own children to remain in power. Empress Wu ruled China for around 15 years and the Chinese empire expanded into Central Asia during her regime. During her reign, Chinese economy registered significant growth with the trading of tea and silk, as reported by The China Project.

Empress Wu’s luxurious and royal life has been portrayed in many films and TV shows. One such TV series is Empress of China starring Fan Bingbing.