The rise of the deserving rich

Illustration: George Wylesol

Jul 23rd 2026|8 min read

BILLIONAIRES HAVE never exactly been popular, but today they are loathed. Politicians in America’s Congress talk about them far more than ever before, usually to decry their ill-gotten gains or their malign influence on politics, or to insist that their wealth needs taxing (see chart 1). Fundraising emails from Democrats are three times as likely to mention billionaires—and almost always negatively—as they were in 2024, according to Andrew Hall of Stanford University. “Every billionaire is a policy failure” is a common cry from the left, linking members of the ten-figure club with a rigged economy and social decay.