Does outsized wealth concentration always turn local élites into a sad parody of Tiberius Caesar's Rome?

I bet the rubber barons of 19th century Brazil had some amazing orgies too. They didn't pretend that they were disrupting the fabric of society, though.

This quote in the article had me literally laughing out loud:

'Furthermore, these elite founders, C.E.O.’s, and V.C.’s see themselves as more influential than most hot-shit bankers, actors, and athletes will ever be. “We have more cachet than a random rich dude because we make products that touch a lot of people,” says Founder X. “You make a movie, and people watch it for a weekend. You make a product, and it touches people’s lives for years.”'

When I hear "product", I think of a bottle of shampoo. In SV, the same word apparently means some kind of transcendental gateway.