Nor do I buy 54, the idea that rich people create more wealth for society from by-products, like Henry Ford gifting us with the automobile. I don't think it's correlated.
You said, "Wealth for society isn't correlated with rich people." If that were true, then it should be possible to have a wealthy country without letting people become rich. It's not.
Maybe we're talking past each other. You're saying you don't like powerful rich people. I'm saying you have to let people become rich, or your country will be poor. Maybe the countries you're thinking of have rich people, but don't let people become rich except through inheritance. That would result in a poor country.
(Incidentally, PG's essay explores that point, too, which is why it's a bad idea to tear apart his essays into a gigantic numbered list.)