"discontent didn't stem from the government's inability to generate wealth instead it was a response to an all too familiar pattern reminiscent of the colonial era: most of the country's newfound riches were being concentrated in the hands of only a select few."

Unless Mr. Bezos, Warren Buffett or Elon Musk sell their stock, their taxable income is relatively minuscule. But they can still make eye-popping purchases by borrowing against their assets. Mr. Musk, for example, used his shares in Tesla as collateral to rustle up around $13 billion in tax-free loans to put toward his acquisition of Twitter.