In America, while all men and women may be created equal, they do not all end up that way. This book ranks an elite group: the richest Americans in American history. The Wealthy 100 offers intimate, often surprising portraits of these individuals and how they amassed their fortunes. The rankings are based on estimated total wealth at the time of death - or a given year for current living Americans - as a percentage of the Gross National Product (GNP) in current dollars for that year. This allows the authors to compare the fortunes of people from different centuries.