The Forbes 400 contains a mix of entrepreneurs and inherited wealth, and tends to describe people as self-made if there is _any_ way of justifying that at all.

The Forbes 400 contains a mix of entrepreneurs and inherited wealth, and tends to describe people as self-made if there is _any_ way of justifying that at all. For example, you typically might raise an eyebrow at the description of Philip Anschutz as 'self-made'... from Anschutz's wikipedia page: "Anschutz bought out his father's drilling company in 1961" (age 22) ... as you do. Paging down the list shows a quite interesting mix of self-made to lesser or greater extents, but a lot of Waltons and Rockerfellers... still. More broadly, the emphasis on the ultra-rich isn't enormously illuminating either way, although it's worth noting that a lot of the 'entirely self-made' ultra-rich come from extremely comfortable upper-middle-class backgrounds, most obviously Bill Gates. I would be suprised to hear any evidence supporting your "Forbes 40,000" line - got any, or are you just making it up?