Billionaires

The super-rich are often portrayed as self-made, as if their wealth was created entirely by their own efforts. But is this true? In his latest book of graphic analysis, cartoonist Darryl Cunningham examines the evidence in his graphic biographies of media baron Rupert Murdoch, oil and gas tycoons Charles and David Koch, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Cunningham makes comparisons with the ''Gilded Age'' (1870s to 1900), the last period in America in which a few individuals gained colossal wealth. What essential elements have the modern equivalents brought us? Would we be poorer without them?