Jacob Fugger
1459 – 1525 German banker, merchant, mining magnate
Augsburg financier, often called the richest man in history, who bankrolled the Habsburg emperors.
- Religion
- Roman Catholic.
- Affiliations
- Head of the Fugger banking and mining house of Augsburg; financier to the Habsburgs and the Papacy.
Known as Jacob Fugger 'the Rich', he built a fortune in textiles, copper and silver mining and banking. His loans bought the 1519 election of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor, and he financed the indulgence sales that helped trigger the Reformation.