jane, the source of the wealth of the top 1% is the stock market, the stock they own in the top corporations and the dividends they get by paying low wages without benefits. over three trillion dollars has been spent on stock buybacks and increased dividends over the past few years. the rich dont earn it, they have it set up so they just get it. every dozen years or so, they suck all the money out of the economy of the middle and lower classes. nine men and one woman, most of them billionairs themselves, control $21 trillion dollars in hedge funds for people so rich their names arent even known. look at the stockholders of the worlds top 1000 corporations and you rarely see a single persons name as a stockholder, but, you do see the same few llc's, corporations, partnerships, foundations, trusts and other 'entities' listed as stockholders in almost all of them. their money comes from money.