“Oh Elon Musk so smart so hard working so good”. Or Bill or Bezos or the 10 000 other rich bastards.
“If you just worked as hard as them you would be rich too” – BS!
Let me tell you a little secret: Most of these people are not where they are because they are smarter or better or working harder. Most of these people are where they are because of luck and because starting into life with an amount of capital most people dont earn in their entire life.
Elons dad had an emeral mine and his mother was a famous model – thats allready being in the top 1% or even 0,5%.
Bezos got a 300 000 Dollars loan from his parent – thats worth 600 000 today – and his grandfather owned like a 10 000 acres of land. Thats allready being in the top 1% or even 0,5%.
Most couples need their entire life to pay of their 600 000 Dollar loan for their house – some people are never able to do so. Never mind getting 600 000 Dollars for free – without any interest you have to pay back.
Buffets father was a wealthy Senator and businessman – that allready puts him in the top 1% or even 0,5%.
Bills Parents were wealth Lawyers/Businesspeople – again putting him into the top 1% or even 0.5%.
There are some outliers but most of the ultra rich guys have managed to become ultra rich by being rich in the first place. They had better education – opportunities – connections – and a better safety net that enabled them to take risks without having to worry about their existence in case of failure. Skill – intelligence – or hard work had only a minimal impact on this.
They had enough money to throw at competent people that eanbled them to make it. I would just love to see how these people turned out in parallel realities where they had a less fortunate start in life. I suspect that they would have made it in a very small amount and if they had made it they wouldnt be as rich as they are today.