HAVING MONEY DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE "CLASS"

"Class" is a word used to indicate that someone is above or below you socially. It can also mean a person who should be looked up to, as in "(s)he has real class".

You can not become upper class just by having money. Ask the Brits about their many poor aristocrats.

One of the reasons that the new rich are not considered to be upper class, is that the new rich have a tendency to use their money to bully people. There is a fine line between being an effective leader and being a bully.

No one minds if a person becomes rich through brains, talent, or just sheer luck. Unfortunately, too many people become richer by being bullies. The "I have more money than you, and therefore YOU WILL LOSE" is prevalent here in Silicon Valley. We all know stories of companies who will not let you have manuals for their software unless you use their consultants, who will not sell you ANYTHING unless you buy exclusively from them, who deliberately copy the work of a young company to put the young company out of business.

Luckily, being a bully is considered "low class" so the children of the new rich bullies generally are not bullies.

The normal way for a known rich bully to be considered a good guy is to start a charity. Carnegie was considered to be a robber baron before he started building libraries.