Originally shared in our September 2026 Top of Mind Newsletter.
Owen Zidar (Princeton) and Eric Zwick (University of Chicago Booth) spent years working with U.S. tax data on business owners and found a large group of wealthy Americans most of us never think about. They own beer distributorships, HVAC companies, dental practices, and auto dealerships. By the authors’ count, there are 25 ultra-rich auto dealers for every member of the Forbes 400. Zidar suggests asking who owns the big houses in any lake or mountain town. “The answer is almost never Elon Musk. More often, it’s somebody who owns a business you drive past every day.”
Most of these owners didn’t invent anything. They noticed a need nobody found exciting (keeping the heat on, leasing vehicles, providing space) and got very good at meeting it. That path is open to far more people than the startup version in the headlines, and it runs through the communities we serve.
The Everywhere Millionaire ultimately shows how much these owners shape there communities, which begs the question: who gets the chance to become an owner? Our answer: those who learn to see opportunities in any situation, by shifting their attention to finding and solving problems for others.