Hard work and skill are only morally good if they have a net positive impact. Plenty of despots were hard working and smart. A lot of people in the crypto industry are very smart, hard working frauds, for example.

You have narrowed my claim to only the virtues of hard work and skill. I’m claiming that it’s unlikely to make billions without being flush with virtues, not just the ones you deem morally neutral.

I stated at the outset that this is not a popular opinion.

Yeah it’s not popular because it’s clear you’ve never met a rich person in your life

It's not popular cuz there's millions of lazy and bitter poor people for every hard-working rich person. In my experience, it's true.

For the record depending on how you define rich I would probably qualify, at least compared to my age cohort. I’m not bitter about my personal situation, I’m bitter that billionaires buy politicians and externalize costs on others to achieve their wealth. Do all billionaires and the rich who serve them do this? No, obviously not. But plenty do.