Contrary to Piketty’s rentier hypothesis, I don’t see anyone on the list whose ancestors bought a great parcel of land in 1780 and have been accumulating family

Contrary to Piketty’s rentier hypothesis, I don’t see anyone on the list whose ancestors bought a great parcel of land in 1780 and have been accumulating family wealth by collecting rents ever since. Bill, you didn't read far enough into the Forbes 400 article, which says: "We didn’t include dispersed family fortunes. Those appeared on our America’s Richest Families list, which came out in July." That money from 1780 is far from 'long gone.' In fact, most wealthy people started life rich and got richer, largely because they could afford to place bigger bets in life and take advantage of opportunities for labor-free capital gains that simply aren't available to people born without capital. Contrary to Gates' assertion, a 2012 study found that two thirds of the Forbes 400 were born wealthy (http://www.faireconomy.org/bornonthirdbase2012 http://www.faireconomy.org/bornonthirdbase2012).