> Being driven and high IQ are much more predictive of success than having rich parents or connected family members.

Are they? What are you basing that on?

> But the idea that desirable leadership roles or entrepreneurial success is allocated via nepotism rings hallow.

People in this thread are talking about structural advantages, not necessarily outright nepotism. Things like it being easier to take entrepreneurial risks if your parents are in a position to help you financially recover from personal bankruptcy.

> It's a fairly non-controversial claim to say successful people work hard and are relatively smart, so I don't know what you're arguing.

IME successful people have the same distributions of work ethic and intelligence as the general population. For every entrepreneur who fought tooth and nail for their success you have someone who flipped 10 coins in a row and got heads each time (metaphorically).