Comments from Deedy Das, a partner at Menlo Ventures, triggered much discussion on Twitter. The subject matter? The effects of the new artificial intelligence explosion. In a lengthy post published on May 16, 2026, at 5:17 PM PDT on X, formerly known as Twitter, Das expressed concerns about wealth disparity in the tech industry. His observations resonated with a lot of you, including connected entrepreneur Deva Hazarika, who provided an interesting counterpoint to Das’ astute observations.
In his post, Das described the atmosphere in San Francisco as “frenetic,” highlighting that “the divide in outcomes is the worst I’ve ever seen.” He calculated that some 10,000 people connected to leading large tech companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Nvidia, and Meta have created wealth to retire on. Many of them have quickly passed the ambitious $20 million. This diverse group includes entrepreneurs as well as employees — founders pushing the boundaries of innovation in this quickly developing, ever-evolving sector.
Anyone worried about the increasing concentration of wealth in our economy would resonate with Das’s reflections. His perspective has helped catalyze this growing, important conversation and focus attention on this urgent topic. He remarked on the ongoing disparity, stating, “Over the last 5yrs, a group of ~10k people – employees at Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Nvidia, Meta TBD, founders – have hit retirement wealth of well above $20M (back of the envelope…).”
Hazarika was thrilled with the engagement on Das’s post. She noted that most people profiled by Das are “extremely lucky” and have agency over their ability to be happy even in difficult situations. His firsthand approach turns the story underpinning prevailing Silicon Valley wisdom on its head—that tech wealth accumulation is all about being in the right place at the right time.
“Most of the people in this post are incredibly fortunate and can simply make a choice to be happy.” – Deva Hazarika
The exchange between Das and Hazarika reflects a broader conversation about wealth distribution in the tech industry and its potential societal implications. As one observer puts it, it’s something “pretty damn novel & kinda nasty.” They underscored how, as technology opens the door to unprecedented opportunity, it equally creates challenges and disparities.
The ongoing dialogue on platforms like X underscores the urgency for stakeholders within the technology sector to address these disparities. As the debate rages on, Silicon Valley folks need to take a hard look at what they’ve gotten right. They should be mindful of the responsibility that comes with their wealth.
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