100 Entrepreneurs Who Changed The World
75. King Croesus
King Croesus was the last King of Lydia from 560BC to 547BC, when he was defeated by the Persians. Croesus was so wealthy, his name became synonymous with wealth, one expression was to be as “rich as Croesus.” Legend told that Croesus’s wealth came from the River Pactolus, where the legendary King Midas had washed his hands. This was likely a fanciful way of relying that Croesus pulled his wealth from the sands of the river. Croesus didn’t just collect his gold and sit back, however, he began to coin it and developed the first monetary system. Trade and crafts across Lydia benefited from the minting of standardized, pure gold currency, and Croesus grew richer and more powerful. Albeit, not as powerful as the Persians, as fate would have it.
