[zozbot234]

That's not what the literature says about differences in income - there, skills are indeed very relevant (though of course sheer luck and superstar dynamics matter a lot at the very high end). Wealth is a whole other ballgame, it's a stock not a flow; it grows globally when asset values rise (as they clearly have in recent times, due to r < g); and at an individual and subcultural level when people refrain from drawing down on it, preserving a long time horizon often across many generations.

[acchow]

This is the magic trick the ultra high net worth have done. The vast majority of their assets are never sold to realize any income. They just keep leveraging upwards to expand and also borrow against their assets to run their lavish life.

[programmarchy]

But why focus on income when the game is all about owning capital.