“Unmasking the Masters of Greed: Meet the 14 People Who Took Avarice to Unthinkable Heights!”
11. King Louis XVI (1754 – 1793)
King Louis XVI of France had a penchant for living in luxury while his subjects suffered under extreme poverty and starvation. His greed for maintaining the lavish lifestyle at the Palace of Versailles, alongside his wife Marie Antoinette, became a symbol of the disconnect between the monarchy and the people. While France descended into financial ruin, Louis XVI continued to live extravagantly.
His greed and refusal to reform the monarchy’s finances led directly to the French Revolution. Louis was eventually overthrown and executed by guillotine, ending centuries of monarchy and marking a dramatic turn in French history.
12. King Leopold II of Belgium (1835 – 1909)
King Leopold II of Belgium is infamous for his greed-fueled exploitation of the Congo. Under the guise of philanthropy, Leopold turned the Congo Free State into his personal fiefdom, where millions of Africans were forced into brutal labor to extract resources like rubber and ivory. The profits made Leopold incredibly wealthy while millions of Congolese people were maimed or killed under his regime.
Leopold’s greed for wealth at the cost of human lives is one of the darkest chapters in colonial history. His actions in the Congo resulted in an international outcry, but the damage had already been done, and his legacy remains one of sheer cruelty.
