Pablo Escobar was richer than Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Escobar was one of the wealthiest individuals in the world during his time, with an estimated net worth of around $25 billion. His fortune was primarily amassed through his leadership of the Medellín cartel, which dominated the cocaine trade in the 1980s. At its peak, the cartel was earning approximately $420 million a week.
Estimates of Guzmán’s wealth vary widely. As a leader of the Sinaloa cartel, he was reported to have a net worth of more than $1 billion, though some sources have suggested that it may have been as high as $12 billion.