This is especially true for a lot of the people that got rich pre-dotcom bubble. Literally the easiest time in the world to make big money on dumb stuff. Then they could take that money and "buy the dip" post-war and post-crash. It basically describes all of these people.
And I've always found it intriguing that these people happen to get real libertarian after they get rich. It's beyond me how someone has such a blind eye regarding the luck that they had. Jim Simons is the only billionaire I've seen explicitly state that his success had a lot to do with luck, honestly addressing what his skills were that helped with his success.
I'm a working class kid and made my money in that era (money long gone). I moved my family into a wealthy neighborhood thinking it would be good for my kids to be around a better class of people. Boy was I wrong. There are a surprising number of rich people who are not smart at all. They got lucky, made a windfall and got lucky again to find a good financial advisor so they manage to hang on to their wealth. Not only that, but rich people have problems that I didn't experience growing up. When I lived in Menlo Park suicide among rich teenagers [1] was happening at an alarming rate due to status wars with other teens and pressure from parents to be successful. My high school graduate father didn't care at all if I went to college. I succeeded because I wanted to. I think it's better that way.
I used to live next to the Menlo Park Caltrain station. All the time, we could hear the train stopping for hours ... for another suicide.
I know a lot of rich people who sent their kids to the fanciest private schools. My friends are legitimately smart, but their kids ... have serious problems. In hindsight, they might have done better to go to a comprehensive public school with "average" kids.
And I've always found it intriguing that these people happen to get real libertarian after they get rich. It's beyond me how someone has such a blind eye regarding the luck that they had. Jim Simons is the only billionaire I've seen explicitly state that his success had a lot to do with luck, honestly addressing what his skills were that helped with his success.