I guess it depends on what you call rich, but I am friends with many "self made" people...nearly all of them have started their own businesses. Although I don't have access to their financial statements, I'd estimate that on average these are people in their 30s/40s with net worths of $2M or more and annual incomes of $200k or higher. Would you call that rich?
I guess what I'm saying is that I disagree that opportunity is dead. One guy started a pizza restaurant franchise chain, one guy started a construction company, one guy has a company that remodels movie theatres, one owns a machine shop, one invests in rental homes and now has 14 of them, one is an attorney and has written several books, and one started an enthusiast auto web site.
Keep in mind these are not people I found by Googling "rich people"...these are people I've met, had dinner with, and some of them I would even consider friends. If I know this many self-made people who have taken "opportunities", I'm sure there are MANY more.
Edit: you might be tempted to respond "but Dave, their "apparent" wealth may be facade...they might be maxed out on loans and credit cards." However, they know of my hobby in personal finance, so they have all entrusted in me certain information such that I am confident they are NOT in debt, and they truly are successful. Some of them have shown me their investment statements, some I've seen their credit scores and credit reports (they asked me how to detect identity theft so I sat with them and showed them
www.annualcreditreport.com process), and some of them asked for help running their businesses so I've seen their P&Ls.
You might also ask if they got a big wad of cash from parents or others. No, I have met their parents in many cases too. One guy did win a lawsuit that netted him about $200k...but that's the only one. These are people who were brought up in middle class families except for one guy, who is from an upper middle class family.