Jacob Fugger

(1459-1525)

German merchant, mining entrepreneur, and banker

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Jakob Fugger of the Lily (German: Jakob Fugger von der Lilie) (6 March 1459 – 30 December 1525), also known as Jakob Fugger the Rich or sometimes Jakob II, was a major German merchant, mining entrepreneur, and banker. He was a descendant of the Fugger merchant family located in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg, where he was born and later also elevated through marriage to Grand Burgher of Augsburg (German Großbürger zu Augsburg). Within a few decades he expanded the family firm to a business operating in all of Europe. He began his education at the age of 14 in Venice, which also remained his main residence until 1487. At the same time he was a cleric and held several prebendaries, even though he never lived in a monastery. Fugger is held to be one of the wealthiest individuals in modern history, alongside the early 20th century industrialists John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.