Below, Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick share five key insights from their new book, The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There.

Owen is a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. Eric is a professor of finance and economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Together, they spent more than a decade analyzing anonymized tax data to map the true shape of American wealth.

The richest Americans aren’t all tech founders, celebrities, or Wall Street titans. Millions have quietly built enormous fortunes by owning ordinary private businesses, from car dealerships to garage-door companies. These “Everywhere Millionaires” reveal a hidden engine of American wealth and upward mobility.

Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Owen—in the Next Big Idea App, or buy the book.

In November 2023, Bob and Paula Brockway of Coral Gables, Florida, hosted what was dubbed “the wedding of the century” for their daughter Madelaine. Guests were flown in by private jet. There was a rehearsal dinner at the Paris Opera House, fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, and a dinner at the Palace of Versailles served by dozens of waiters in period costume. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 gave a private concert. The bill: $60 million.

You might think the Brockways had to be titans of technology or Wall Street to be able to afford such a lavish event. But actually, they were car dealers from Florida.

The way we typically think about rich people in America— Jamie Dimon , Taylor Swift , the Rockefellers , Elon Musk —represents a small slice of who’s actually wealthy.

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