> Elon Musk was a South African-born undergrad at Pennsylvania

Who first emigrated to Canada, where he attended Canada's most prestigious business school for two years before transferring to the United States' most prestigious business school.

> Peter Thiel was a German-born lawyer trading derivatives at Credit Suisse

After which he ran his own hedge fund for two years, then co-founded PayPal.

These guys certainly had more merit than many people, but to hold them up as people who succeeded with merit over connections is silly.