It’s also a consequence of low taxes on capital gains and corporate profits.

When those taxes were higher it made more sense to reinvest the profits back into your own company. You’d build a reputation and a structure that would pay out you and your family for a hundred years.

Now the dream is to build up a company just enough to sell it to some megacorp and cash out asap, with you and your family living off of investment money that only increases over time.