Pablo Escobar

At his peak in the late 1980s, Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine consumed worldwide. The operation generated roughly $420 million per week — $22 billion per year. Forbes listed him as the seventh-richest person in the world in 1989. The cash came in so fast that Escobar reportedly lost 10% of his money annually to rats eating it in storage and water damage in buried containers.

The spending was as absurd as the earning. Escobar built a private zoo at his Hacienda Nápoles estate — complete with hippos, giraffes, and elephants imported from Africa. (The hippos escaped after his death and now number over 100, making them Colombia's most bizarre invasive species.) He burned $2 million in cash to keep his daughter warm during one night hiding from authorities. He purchased apartments, taxi companies, and soccer teams to launder money, and gave away enough houses and cash in Medellín's slums to genuinely earn the nickname "Robin Hood."

Escobar's story is the ultimate cautionary tale about the difference between income and wealth preservation. At $30 billion, he could have quietly retired as one of the richest humans alive. Instead, his war against the Colombian government, rival cartels, and eventually the US cost him everything — his freedom, his family's safety, and his life at age 44. The money that survived him has been the subject of treasure hunts for three decades. His brother claims billions are still buried somewhere in the Colombian countryside.