good for them. They are much more valuable in many more ways than net worth than over half of the world's population too.
Not sure about the ones who inherited that wealth, but the first generation/self made,- that's for sure. Intelligence, entrepreneurship/capitalism & dedication is pushing human kind forward, not a random group of folk, having a pot under the bridge, while singing kum ba yah. And this has nothing to do with empathy, it's just the reality of this globe, in the middle of nowhere. One real scourge/plague, one global war, one asteroid & all of the problems gets ,, solved ''. Alternative :
i don’t think this is the right way to look at it. By your logic an assembly worker in Mexico is less valuable than one in Norway because the Mexican is poorer due to lower wages, not necessarily lower productivity. further, the wealth of a billionaire largely reflect the present value of the wealth his assets will generate in the future. A poor person doesn’t get credit for the future earnings of his wages.
You are mistaking activity with accomplishment. Who brings more value to the marketplace? To society? Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or the lowly Mexican toiler?
Obviously Elon Musk. But Elon Musks net worth is determined by the present value of his business (specifically in his case exaccerbated by the speculative dollars trading his stock) A Mexican toiler doesn't get credit for the present value of his earnings in these reports. Further, a Mexican worker auto worker is probably paid 1/10th of a tesla auto worker but produces the same amount of value to the market place (the production of 1 car).
you are wrong. Elon Musk's worth is determined by the value of Elon Musk, not his business. Delete all of his business today, within a year he will already have extraordinary projects and businesses going that have the potential to alter the lives of everyone on the planet. This is the difference in value between someone like him, and the rest of us. He is literally more valuable to mankind. The Mexican toiler doesn't get credit because he is so easily replaced, you cannot say the same for Musk.
Really? According to which metric? I can't disagree more. No matter how hard I think I find not one single metric that would make 41 individuals worth/valuable more than half the world population other than wealth. Not IQ, not education, not effort, not location, not anything.
Sure, but clearly 41 individuals, no matter whom you pick, do not bring more to the table than half the world population. There are other metrics in play that caused this huge wealth disparity but its certainly not the case that 41 individuals are many million times more intelligent or harder working than half the world population as you suggested.
You are a bit confused. This is about net worth. Not entrepreneurial spirit. Musk's net worth is completely linked to the present value of future cash flows of his companies. He has very little other wealth stuffed under his pillow.