Software

Software is the closest thing to a permissionless fortune: no factory, no inventory, no license, just a person who can build. In theory that opens it to anyone. In practice the people here started with the things that make a long unpaid build survivable — a stable home, a degree in hand or in progress, and a first computer that showed up early. The barrier was never capital. It was the runway to work for years before the money arrived.

What decides the size of the outcome is the same thing it always is: what they kept. The bootstrappers who never diluted, and the venture founders who held control through the IPO, ended up with the fortunes. The equally skilled engineer who took a salary and a modest option grant ended up comfortable. Same code, different structure, and the structure is the story.