The first paragraph says:
> The popular view of America's upper class is that of an ossified aristocracy. But research from the National Bureau of Economic Research shakes up this view, at least among America's richest individuals.
Not much has shaken up this view. Half of the list inherited $400 million or more upon turning 18. Even the other half of the list are from among a small percentage of America's upper middle class.
#1 Bill Gates. Father a wealthy lawyer. His grandfather was a national bank president. He went to an elite private grammar school, which had teletypes and computer timesharing back in the 1960s. His mother was on the board of United Way with the CEO of IBM - a helpful thing for a son who became a billionaire by riding IBM's coattails. Despite all of this, he is still on the bootstrapped, self-made side of the F400 list. He is not one of the heirs.
Next is Warren Buffett. His father was a congressman. His grandfather owned a string of stores. And so on.
The rest of the top ten are the Waltons, who inherited Wal-Mart on birth, the Koch brothers, who inherited an oil company on birth, plus Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg. Ellison and Bloomberg are the only middle class people on the list.
I do think there are new trends happening at this level, but they don't point to what the blog post authors are pointing to.
Not much has shaken up this view. Half of the list inherited $400 million or more upon turning 18. Even the other half of the list are from among a small percentage of America's upper middle class.
#1 Bill Gates. Father a wealthy lawyer. His grandfather was a national bank president. He went to an elite private grammar school, which had teletypes and computer timesharing back in the 1960s. His mother was on the board of United Way with the CEO of IBM - a helpful thing for a son who became a billionaire by riding IBM's coattails. Despite all of this, he is still on the bootstrapped, self-made side of the F400 list. He is not one of the heirs.
Next is Warren Buffett. His father was a congressman. His grandfather owned a string of stores. And so on.
The rest of the top ten are the Waltons, who inherited Wal-Mart on birth, the Koch brothers, who inherited an oil company on birth, plus Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg. Ellison and Bloomberg are the only middle class people on the list.
I do think there are new trends happening at this level, but they don't point to what the blog post authors are pointing to.