> "almost never the most talented people reach the highest peaks of success, being overtaken by mediocre but sensibly luckier individuals." One can be talented

> "almost never the most talented people reach the highest peaks of success, being overtaken by mediocre but sensibly luckier individuals." One can be talented at many different things. Perhaps the people at the top were talented at a less obvious but more relevant skill than those who didn't "succeed". Looking strictly at monetary success, people who succeed purely and obviously by luck (lottery winners) generally do not stay successful very long. They quickly lose their money. AFAIK, the bankruptcy rate for people who get rich via working on something is far less than people who were randomly assigned riches. This would seem to imply that the former are doing something differently.