I think thee assumption is that the investors have likely stolen from people, through perfectly legal yet ethically dubious means many consider theft but isn't

I think thee assumption is that the investors have likely stolen from people, through perfectly legal yet ethically dubious means many consider theft but isn't defined in law as theft (deceit, disproportionate reward of effort, etc.). Often the type of theft uses indirection or is difficult to quantify. You tend not to get investment level rich/wealthy without playing in the ethical grey areas, skirting laws, and/or taking calculated risks of breaking laws to capture more than you actually directly produce. Not always the case but it tends to be the case from many peoples' world views. As such, it's viewed more as a thief stealing from a thief, where most have little pitty for either thief.