The truly rich are a pervasive but often faceless blight on the American landscape.
What’s astonishing, however, is that when we talk about US billionaires we are talking about a group of people so small that we can reasonably know all of their names and faces.
The people who shutter companies, crush unions, and strike down legislation on a whim cannot be allowed to ghost anonymously through daily life. We have a duty to know their names and faces; to know where to find them; to know at whose expense their wealth is derived.
It is the privilege of the rich to be inaccessible; we can help.
You may notice that this book is missing a lot of names you recognize-- that it does not include the celebrities, the actors, the pseudo-politician business-people that probably come to mind when you think of “rich people.” It does not include most of the people you associate with fancy cars, designer outfits, and mansions.
This is not because celebrities are not wealthy: It is because the plutes in this book are as many times more wealthy than pop-culture stars as those stars are wealthier than you.
This is a level of wealth above law, national borders, and any sense of morality.