I think you're discounting the utility of an extremely wealthy person's capital as a vehicle for greater change. That is, Warren Buffet probably can't move the

I think you're discounting the utility of an extremely wealthy person's capital as a vehicle for greater change. That is, Warren Buffet probably can't move the needle much through consumption of goods. Even if he replaced his $3 breakfast with a $300 breakfast it's just not going to have a huge net effect. Instead if he manages his finances carefully and leaves himself capital for investments then he's able to influence entire markets at once. This is a lot more effective use of his leverage than simple consumption because it drives innovation, fosters competition, etc. There's certainly something to be said on your points of wealthier consumers pioneering technologies and solutions for the rest of the world. I believe it's more realistic to look at the upper-middle-class for that sort of thing than the ultra-wealthy though, as people like Warren Buffet are the 0.1% of the 0.1% of the 0.1%.