How Count Dooku Became the Wealthiest Man in Star Wars
It’s known that Palpatine is the wealthiest character to exist in the Star Wars galaxy, but Count Dooku’s wealth had him beat during the Clone Wars.
When looking for the wealthiest character in Star Wars, it doesn’t take long to realize Palpatine in his prime had more wealth than anybody could possibly imagine. But in the grand scheme of things, his time as emperor was short-lived (at just over 20 years). So when looking outside this period in Star Wars history, there are quite a few more contenders for “wealthiest character” — with Count Dooku being one of them.
When Dooku was part of the Jedi Order, things like money were of little concern and encouraged to be ignored. So it’s ironic that he not only became rich but continued to exploit everyone around him for as much money as possible. And it all began when Dooku became the ruler of his home world Serenno, a (once) prosperous Outer Rim planet that was forced into the Clone Wars.
Count Dooku Was a Harsh Ruler
Before the Clone Wars, Dooku’s home world was ruled by his brother, Count Ramil. He was power-hungry and foolish, with plans to topple the other houses of Serenno and rule as a dictator. Things were taken so far that in the Dooku: Jedi Lost novel, he was forced to kill his brother Ramil, resulting in the family wealth and the title of Count becoming his own. But while one dictator was removed, Dooku was just another who took his place.
Dooku soon began to dismantle the planet’s military and replace its forces with droids, something that was far cheaper and caused unemployment rates to skyrocket. And with the Clone Wars on the horizon, Dooku raised taxes and began hoarding Serenno’s wealth into a single war chest. This chest recently featured on Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and was so large that it spanned hundreds of shipping containers filled with credits and valuable trinkets.
Count Dooku Founded the Separatists
Dooku worked hard to form alliances for his Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatists. And with tensions ever-growing, everything led to the beginning of the Clone Wars in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, just as Dooku and Palpatine had planned. It wasn’t long before Serenno became a stronghold for the Separatists, with Dooku stealing from his own people to fund the unwanted war.
While being Count of Serenno already made Dooku rich, it was his power over the Separatists that placed him among the wealthiest in the galaxy. Each Separatist planet was trying to remain independent, but ironically they ended up under Dooku’s thumb, where their resources became his resources. Most notably, Dooku had the InterGalactic Banking Clan on his side, a clan which, as the name suggests, held a huge amount of wealth as they offered loans to other systems — loans Dooku no longer needed to pay back.
So like many rulers in the Star Wars galaxy, Dooku held the vast wealth of an entire planet. But what truly set him apart from the others were the three years spanning the Clone Wars, as Dooku essentially had a blank check to fund whatever he wanted. To the point where the Separatists may have actually won the war if Palpatine had requested it. But in the end, Dooku’s wealth couldn’t save him, and it became just another part of Emperor Palpatine’s resources.
