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points by benrutter 1 day ago | 0 comments

This raises such an interesting question, how much of the wealthiest individuals wealth is due to skill, and how much is because in an unequal system there has to be someone at the most wealthiest point.

I think it's an interesting thought, I'm not sure I have a hot take here or anything. The likes of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are clearly good at amassing wealth (and interested in amassing wealth) but I suspect a lot less is attributable to skill than many would think.

[–] apercu 1 day ago

So bezos’ parents were in a position to fund him to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Enron musks dad owns mines, bill gates mom was on the IBM board. It very much has little to do with skill.

[–] benrutter 1 day ago

I think that's pretty much true- it's worth saying there are other people who have the insane privilege of the three you mentioned who aren't some of the wealthiest people in the world, so there's some kind of explanation needed aside from just privilege, even if that's just "luck".