21. Gregor MacGregor
Year: 1821
Approx. Amount: $5 Billion* (2021)
Company / Person Involved: Gregor MacGregor
200 years ago, the “old world” wasn’t wasting any time in colonizing the “new world”, and Gregor MacGregor found a way to take advantage of the people that were hoping to get in on the game. In 1821, MacGregor tricked hundreds of people into investing in Poyais, a colony that was anything but a utopia on the Honduran Bay, and that he had been made “Cazique” (chief) of the colony by the land’s natives.
Gregor MacGregor ©Print Collector / Gettyimages.com
None of that was real, of course, and Cazique MacGregor ended up scamming the hopeful colonizers out of $1.75 million (1821). When he was found out, Gregor went into hiding, but after only 3 months, he was captured and stood trial. Somehow, Gregor was acquitted of all charges against him and got away with one of the most elaborate scams in history.