Billionaires' Myth-Building: Hard Work or Pure Luck?
The myth that billionaires earn their fortunes through hard work is a convenient fiction that justifies extreme inequality and blames the poor, writes Dr James Schuurmans-Stekhoven.
Billionaires like Gina Rinehart don't become rich by working harder than others. Instead, they are born with an advantage and use their wealth to extract more value from other people's labor. Ninety percent of economic welfare comes from what previous generations left behind, a 'natural lottery' of geography and inherited advantage.
The billionaire narrative assumes everyone wants the same thing: wealth and status. However, this ignores the fact that many people are content with a quiet life, a garden, and time with their children. They don't lack motivation; they lack the neurotic hunger for status and wealth.
The Australian context is particularly obscene. Between 2015 and 2025, the number of billionaires in Australia more than doubled from 74 to 161, while their combined wealth surged by 160% to $667.8 billion. Meanwhile, one in three households experienced food insecurity, and 3.7 million people, including 757,000 children, live below the poverty line.
The gap between the richest and poorest on the Financial Review Rich List has grown from $1.09 billion in 1984 (adjusted for inflation) to $37.36 billion in 2025, an increase of 14 times over four decades. The top 10% of Australian households now control 44% of all our wealth, while 48 billionaires hold more wealth than the bottom 40%, almost 11 million people.