Dude, thanks for this reply. I think you sorted out some of my feelings about this a bit, and I think I understand more now. "...eventually becoming aristocrats themselves." is what I think is happening here - Bezos is a cool guy but he admires the scientists and researchers and want to be around these people to be more like them himself.

Me reacting poorly is probably elitist in itself - from my perspective the organization of this "party" makes Bezos somewhat of a poser if you will. I guess I'll have to do a bit of reflecting on this, so that I can have a more mature reaction.