What to be rich? - Be one!

An obvious answer about why some people become rich, and while the others do not:
"In other words, one reason that people differ in their incomes is that some people care more about having a high income than others. To put it in geekspeak, preferences over pecuniary goods (say, consumption) and nonpecuniary goods (say, leisure) are heterogeneous. Bryan goes on to suggest that to the extent this is true, it weakens the case for income redistribution."

The original link contains another grain of wisdom:
"What about the "losers"?  Bite your tongue.  When you call lower-income people "losers," you're falsely assuming that we're all racing for the same finish line: material success.  But to a large extent, lower-income people are just racing for other finish lines.  Leftist outrage over income inequality is therefore deeply misguided.  To a large extent, incomes differ because priorities differ.  And if the poor don't consider their lack of riches a big deal, why should anyone else?"

The last sentence is not disproved by the social protests, whose participants are much more concerned about making "the rich" share their riches, rather than about becoming rich themselves. Only few want wealth - most want welfare.