As I demonstrated in Chapter One, basic facts about the distribution of wealth are well known but the processes that account for wealth inequality are still unclear. Understanding individual and family-level wealth accumulation and mobility – who gets rich and how – is an important piece of the puzzle. Chapter Two explored how much wealth mobility occurs, and in this chapter I begin to investigate the processes that underlie patterns of wealth accumulation. The specific goal of this chapter is to understand who the wealthy are. I present a basic portrait of the people and their wealth. I then show that the wealthy are an educated group. This chapter provides a preview to the more detailed explorations of the origins of the wealthy that are the object of the remainder of this book.

WHO ARE THE RICH?

One way to think about who is rich is to consider specific wealthy people, and the Forbes 400 is a logical place to begin. As I detail in the Appendix, Forbes magazine produces annual lists of the Four Hundred wealthiest Americans and augment the lists with information about the source of the person's wealth. Table 3.1 lists the top ten wealthiest individuals in 1996, during the rapid economic growth that characterized that period. The table also identifies the source of the persons' wealth and the size of their fortune

William Henry (Bill) Gates III was the wealthiest person in the country in 1996, and he has maintained that position ever since.