I don't get it. The article talks not just about Zhang, but also about James Maynard, who is a postdoc and looks young, and is part of what you might call standard academia. His result is independent of Zhang's and is orders of magnitude stronger and is much easier to understand. Comes off pretty good for academia, really.
Also, remember that most people on Earth aren't in academia, but most people still think. So the null hypothesis is that most innovations won't come from academia. But a huge amount of them do anyway, including even your counterexample, who--despite his economic struggles--was still a lecturer at a university. You could make a similar argument for young people.
Our university system and our cultural obsession with youth deserve plenty of criticism, but the accusation that they're not making important discoveries isn't one of them, and it's totally unwarranted from this article.
Also, remember that most people on Earth aren't in academia, but most people still think. So the null hypothesis is that most innovations won't come from academia. But a huge amount of them do anyway, including even your counterexample, who--despite his economic struggles--was still a lecturer at a university. You could make a similar argument for young people.
Our university system and our cultural obsession with youth deserve plenty of criticism, but the accusation that they're not making important discoveries isn't one of them, and it's totally unwarranted from this article.