From the New York Times this article, Lure of Great Wealth Affects Career Choices, caught my attention. It talks about a two-tier income stratum within professional jobs. Rather than earning the typical six-figure income under $400,000 there are people making millions due to:
. . . people [who] latched onto opportunities within their fields that offered significantly higher incomes [or] have moved to different, higher-paying fields — from academia to Wall Street, for example — and a growing number of entrepreneurs have seen windfalls tied largely to expanding financial markets, which draw on capital from around the world...Three decades ago, compensation among occupations differed far less than it does today.
Among these high income earners you can find:
- Partners in Hedge funds and private equity firms
- Real estate developers
- Lawyers
- Dot-com entrepreneurs
- Scientists/entrepreneurs who sell their discoveries
- Owners of ordinary businesses who sell them
- CEOs
- Wall Street investment bankers
- Sports stars and celebrities
and the children of the super-rich
