Wealthiest Americans

Think Bill Gates is rich? The front-page story in today's New York Times compares the relative rank of wealthy Americans, past and present, in terms of the national economy of the time.

As you'll see from this interactive graphic (an elaboration on the chart in the print edition), Gates is nowhere near as rich as Cornelius Vanderbilt.

What's more, Gates will have to more than double his fortune to outrank this country's all-time number-one wealthholder, John D. Rockefeller.