[ryandrake]

Thanks for this comment. I was going to make a similar one, but you beat me to it. Standard of living tends to be relative because of gentrification. Say you're making $X/yr and spend $Y/yr on groceries, gas, housing, and so on. Then a bunch of people making $5X start moving in to your neighborhood, slowly prices for everything are going to rise and now you're still making $X/yr but costs are approaching $5Y/yr on all your stuff.

Also, at least in the USA, money is efficiently convertible to and from political power. So outsized wealth translates into outsized political power. Satya Nadella having far more money than I means he also has far more political clout than I have.