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The nerds of Silicon Valley are all upset that these rich kids are taking over the industry that wants to be known for rewarding smarts and hard work over old money and connections. In The New York Times' DealBook, Evelyn M. Rusli chronicles the moneyed youth trying their hands at technology because, Hey, why not? "I wanted to build something," Mark Ghermezian, of the Canadian Ghermezian family, which owns the Mall of America among other big malls, told Rusli. "My family doesn’t quite understand what I do, but they know I’m their tech guy." But, even though money makes America, and especially Silicon Valley, go-round, the techies haven't taken kindly to the new high class class.
Silicon Valley has this whole meritocratic self-image that posits that smarts, innovation, and ingenuity, not money or social class will ultimately lead to success. The entire culture feeds off of that whole Winkelvoss (pictured above) versus Zuckerberg trope: The self-made man succeeds in the tech world. "No one really cares who your parents are," Mark Suster, a venture capitalist and TechStars mentor told Rusli. "My bigger point was that tech is a meritocracy and no one cares how rich your daddy is," venture capitalist David Hornick, who Rusli interviewed for the article, wrote on Twitter. Rich kids making an impact in tech sort of shatters this idea.