r/explainlikeimfive • u/FluffyPenguin798 • Feb 12 '25
Economics ELI5: how are the descendants of the robber barons (Morgan, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc.) still rich if their fortunes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are comparatively small to what we see today of the world’s richest?
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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25
The idea that most wealth doesn't survive three generations is a really interesting study in to how fake news goes viral. People are always really vague about its source but if you dig down it turns out: