Quiet Wealth, Big Impact: What CNN’s “Stealthy Wealthy” Segment Reveals About the Future of Entrepreneurship

In a recent CNN segment, host Michael Smerconish challenged some of America’s most entrenched assumptions about wealth, success, and entrepreneurship. Featuring Princeton economist Dr. Owen Zidar, the discussion pulled back the curtain on a class of entrepreneurs who don’t fit the mold of Silicon Valley disruptors or Wall Street power players. Instead, these individuals, dubbed the “stealthy wealthy,” have built multimillion-dollar fortunes in what many consider to be “boring” businesses: auto dealerships, pest control companies, dental practices, and flooring equipment manufacturing, among others.

Key Points From the Segment:

• Dr. Zidar, along with co-author Dr. Eric Zwick of the University of Chicago, studied anonymized tax data from 2000 to 2022. Their findings: for the top 2.1% of earners, business ownership—not wages—is the primary source of income.
• Many of these entrepreneurs operate medium-sized businesses with roughly $20M in annual revenue and 100 employees. They don’t live on the coasts. They often didn’t attend elite universities. Yet they quietly outperform their high-income, high-profile peers.
• Highlighted examples included (a) Derek Olson, whose company makes carpet-removal machines, and (b) David MacNeil, who founded WeatherTech. Both built substantial wealth in unglamorous industries.

The Millionaire Next Door

The segment echoed insights from the classic 1996 book, The Millionaire Next Door, written by Dr. Thomas Stanley and Dr. William Danko. That book, which DigitalAMN’s own Ajene Watson was “strongly encouraged” to read early in his career (by his mother, no less), identified that many American millionaires don’t drive luxury cars or flaunt designer clothes. Instead, they live modestly, invest wisely, and run solid, service-oriented businesses. What was true in 1996 appears even more valid today. If you’re paying attention, you already know: Wealth Doesn’t Shout.

This segment reminds us that not all wealth is flashy, and not all entrepreneurs are chasing venture capital or IPO glory. Many are quietly building cash-flowing businesses—reinvesting profits, avoiding debt, and laying the foundation for multi-generational wealth. These are the “quiet capitalists” who, in Dr. Zidar’s words, “don’t show up on anyone’s radar.”

Their story isn’t one of overnight success but of sustainable, often community-rooted entrepreneurship. It also suggests that the traditional route, starting a real business in a real economy, might be the most effective and underappreciated path to prosperity.

What This Means for the Ecosystem

This perspective opens up important conversations for everyone, from investors and policy-makers to educators and entrepreneurs. The real economic engine may not be in the next big tech unicorn, but in supporting a generation of resilient, disciplined business owners solving tangible problems.

Reflections

Stories like these are a refreshing reminder that the path to real wealth doesn’t always look like what’s trending. Entrepreneurship grounded in community, consistency, and cash flow often flies under the radar, but it’s exactly the kind of foundational strength we believe builds lasting value. In supporting overlooked founders and educating everyday investors, it’s encouraging to see broader conversations reflecting what many of us have known all along: boring businesses aren’t just viable—they’re vital.

The “stealthy wealthy” are not just a statistical anomaly—they are a powerful example of what’s possible when we rethink where value is created and who gets to create it. The lessons shared in CNN’s segment may not go viral, but they might just be what America’s entrepreneurial future is built on, which includes the long-term ROIs that investors—particularly the everyday novice and non-accredited type—benefit from.

• Novice and non-accredited investors can join the Startup Investing Academy to learn about and participate in the development and growth of potentially high-value business ventures.
• Angel Investors, Everyday Entrepreneurs and Novice and Non-Accredited Investors can join the Wealth Builders Society (WBS) on LinkedIn for community insight, education, growth and support.

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This article is part of DigitalAMN’s ongoing efforts to observe and understand the shifts in capital access and early-stage funding that impact startups, investors (accredited and non-accredited), and the ecosystem at large. Stay informed at digitalamn.com.Source: CNN’s “Who Are the Stealthy Wealthy?” | Aired: May 24, 2025 | Featuring: Michael Smerconish, Dr. Owen Zidar (Princeton), and research by Dr. Eric Zwick (University of Chicago).