"Being rich" doesn't appear as an input factor on the model, that's my interpretation. The paper describes how, assuming a meritocratic setup where everyone st

"Being rich" doesn't appear as an input factor on the model, that's my interpretation. The paper describes how, assuming a meritocratic setup where everyone starts out the same, wealth accumulates as a function of repeated lucky events, largely unaffected by the particular talents of the individual. We all know that money makes money and the wealthy have a lot more ways of seizing opportunities than those without resources, using wealth as a leverage way more powerful than personal talent. Nevertheless, the model works as a thought experiment showing what would happen if everyone began from the same starting point; even in that case, talent would have little weight in how wealth accumulation would evolve.