You'd have to define merit. For instance, on the one hand 'general intelligence' has been shown to be heritable (via adopted twin studies), but on the other, 'general intelligence' scores have increased massively in Africa as schooling becomes more widespread. So, is general intelligence heritable? Do our tests for intelligence really measure how much like a middle class European you are?

These are interesting academic questions, but I wonder if you'd agree with this - having access to 5MM in no questions asked family funding is more useful than 50 extra IQ points, because you can always hire clever people.