Making the Trickle Become a Torrent

Why The Trickle Down Theory Doesn’t Work

by

William A. Gralnick

The problem with the “Trickle Down Theory” is with the people who are supposed to be trickling down the money. Too many seem to have too much Scrooge McDuck in them. The sums of money available to the 10 wealthiest people in America are so staggering that it is hard to believe. The number is $1.7 trillion. We are not talking about the 1%. We are talking about one-tenth of one percent. These fortunes are so large that some earn a billion dollars a day in regular economic activity.

Let me run some numbers for you, along with the corresponding names, and you’ll see what I mean.

The ten wealthiest Americans, according to the latest available information, are: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Ballmer, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Jensen Huang. Their net worths vary but generally range from over $100 billion to over $300 billion.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

1. Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, with a net worth around $375 billion.

2. Jeff Bezos: Founder of Amazon, with a net worth around $244 billion.

3. Larry Ellison: Co-founder of Oracle, with a net worth around $223 billion.

4. Mark Zuckerberg: Founder of Meta (formerly Facebook), with a net worth around $219 billion.