The Bloomberg "Odd Lots" podcast discusses the book "The Everywhere Millionaire" by economists Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick, which challenges the perception that wealth is concentrated among a few billionaires. The book reveals a much larger group of wealthy Americans, dubbed "stealthy wealthy" or "Main Street millionaires," who are spread across the country and often got rich through hard work and everyday businesses, rather than through tech or finance. These individuals include dentists, HVAC contractors, and owners of various small to medium-sized enterprises.
Zidar and Zwick's research, based on Treasury and IRS data, shows that about 3 million private business owners in the U.S. have an average wealth of approximately $25 million. Collectively, these households, estimated at around 5 million with at least $5 million in wealth, hold more than 13 times the wealth of the Forbes 400. The book emphasizes that the path to wealth for many of these individuals is through "pass-through" businesses like sole proprietorships and partnerships, which benefit from tax advantages that allow profits to flow directly to the owner's personal tax return, avoiding corporate double taxation and enabling a 20% income deduction.
Examples of these "everywhere millionaires" include Dick Portillo, who grew a hot dog stand into a billion-dollar restaurant chain, and Karen Bentlage, who built a multi-million dollar business from tanning salons to waxing salons. The research also highlights that about three-quarters of these millionaires started their own businesses and did not inherit their wealth. These Main Street millionaires also wield significant political influence, being dramatically overrepresented in elected office compared to their share of the general population.
