Perhaps not! Also when it comes to private persons, I find many examples of the currently wealthy 1% having done things that elevated and cemented their status

Perhaps not! Also when it comes to private persons, I find many examples of the currently wealthy 1% having done things that elevated and cemented their status that are no longer legal today. I dare say most. Its not just that the laws changed and they coincidentally were a common practice at the time, its that those were the particular nuanced laws they were using. Everything from selling securities door to door 100 years ago, to self-benefitting charities using overlooked and accidental combinations of tax code.