If a billion people put all their money on a single number on roulette five times in a row, we wouldn't call the three that won geniuses as a result.

Meritocracy is a myth. billionaires are no better at the awful game of trying to exploit others than the millions of others with privilege, intelligence, drive, and the willingness to do anything to anyone no matter how awful to make line go up. They're just the ones that won.