[nickpinkston]

Yes, exactly. Most mature industries are no longer run by the founders who own a lot of stock, but professional management with far less compensation.

The real questions about the military industrial complex are:

(1) Are we producing the right systems for today's defense environment? (hard to say)

(2) Are we doing this cost effectively for the country? (not at all)

(3) Is the structure of the industry healthy to best achieve 1&2 without being subject to regulatory capture / corruption? (It's an oligopoly of rent seekers with a revolving door between the gov't and industry, so very likely not)

Whether it makes people rich is beside the point. The question is whether it makes us safe at a fair price. It doesn't seem like you can say it does so.