I read it a bit differently: these companies are doing so well, they're capturing a huge amount of their respective markets, to the point where they can easily

I read it a bit differently: these companies are doing so well, they're capturing a huge amount of their respective markets, to the point where they can easily afford to raise the salary on even their lowest paid employees. Likewise on the other end of the spectrum, companies on razor-thin margins are stuck pushing people towards minimum wage salaries. You could pull a couple of conclusions from this article: 1. The patent system is a mess, and is helping drive huge profits for a small number of very large companies, as well as hindering others from competing or entering that market. They note the biggest examples are in tech and healthcare, which is not surprising. 2. The 'best' or 'smartest' workers congregating in a few very large companies that can afford to pay them very well is no surprise. Add in #1 and employees have less reason to leave and create competing services or businesses. 3. The ability of technology to be so easily replicated, plus #1 and #2, means we see few, if any, challengers to certain established markets. All this is great...if you work at one of these companies.