The USA’s top 400 wealthiest are more meritocratic and less likely to have inherited their money than those in 1982, claims a report.

The report, Family, Education, and Sources of Wealth among the Richest Americans, 1982-2012 written by Steven Kaplan of the University of Chicago and Joshua Rauh of Stanford, looked at the Forbes top 400 from 1982 until 2011.

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The authors concluded that the top 400 is now more likely to include the middle class university educated than it was in 1982.
Then 60% were from already wealthy backgrounds, in 2011 the number had dropped to 32%.

In addition the report found just 5% of those in the top 400 had no university education, compared to 17% in 1982.

The report puts this down to the rise of technology and finance as a source of wealth.

In 1982 the two dominant wealth sources for the top 400 were real estate and energy, usually from inherited businesses.

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In 2012 the positions have become reversed the report found, with 17.8% of the businesses run by the top 400 having a strong technology component.

In addition the study found that the number of individuals who were the first to run a business in their family had risen from 40% in 1982 to 69% in 2011.

However being born into poverty still holds as many people back as it did in 1982, claims the report. Just 20% of the top 400 came from this background, the same level as 1982.

The rise in technology as a source of wealth the report claims has been helped by individuals like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sergey Brin of Google.