But that’s kinda the problem, right? Piketty’s central thesis is that above a certain amount of critical mass capital has a sort of gravity that almost inevitably attracts more wealth to itself at an exponential rate, and only truly cataclysmic events (either on a personal or societal level) can disrupt that accrual. People like Elon, Trump, and all the other failsons and nepo babies populating the millionaire and billionaire class are walking proof of the theory – even if he wasn’t keeping pace with the larger market, Trump still managed to make Daddy’s money last until now, and he’s self-evidently less intelligent than most small rodents. That wasn’t any special talent on his part growing the family fortune – it’s just (effectively) ambient cash getting caught in the gravity well of his inheritance and falling past the event horizon, in spite of his dumbassery.