Jakob Fugger

Jakob Fugger, in Bundeswehr Military History Museum, Dresden 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. He was born and later also elevated through marriage to Grand Burgher of Augsburg (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 prebends. American journalist Greg Steinmetz has estimated his overall wealth to be around 2% of the GDP of Europe at that time, the equivalent of around $400 billion adjusted to 2015.

The foundation of the family's wealth was created mainly by the textile trade with Italy. The company grew rapidly after the brothers Ulrich, Georg and Jakob began banking transactions with the House of Habsburg as well as the Roman Curia, and at the same time began mining operations in Tyrol, and from 1493 on the extraction of silver, and copper in the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary. As of 1525, they also had the right to mine quicksilver and cinnabar in Almadén.